Five Little Monkeys
by bamboo72498
Summary: After trying to get pregnant for a long time, Rick Castle and Kate Beckett get help and finally have that little Castle baby everyone is always talking about. *Disclamor* Not mine all characters you recognize belong to Marlowe and CO; those you don't recognize are all mine
1. Prologue

**A/N- Hey guys! so this is a project i've been working on for about a week now. i got the idea a few days before Christmas and started writing the day after Christmas. i have 8 chapters written and am working on number 9 as we speak. trhis story spilled out of me so fast, it's carzy. i wanted to upload the first chapter to see what people think. as always: Reviews are nice and constructive criticism is good too.**

**Enjoy!**

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The door clicked shut, but still Kate Beckett sat on the exam table wrapped in the flimsy paper gown she was given. She held the multitude of pamphlets and information the doctor had given her. She looked down at the article on top of the pile, "_The Basics of Polycystic Ovarian System_," but it made her stomach churn. She slid a pamphlet about fertility treatments out of the pile but couldn't look at it for more than a second.

Tears began to pour out her eyes and down her cheeks. She hoped this was the universe's way of a cruel joke and that someone up there was watching her and laughing their ass off.

'_How could this happen? What am I going to do? What am I going to tell people?' _a million questions ran through her head, and still the tears flowed.

Half an hour later she had finally composed herself enough to change back into her clothes and leave her OB/GYN's office.

She smiled and waved when the nurses told her to have a good night, but inside she still wanted to cry.

[] []

She parked her car down the street from the loft and let the cold January air nip at her nose, fingers and ears. She tried to escape inside herself for a few minutes, knowing if she didn't now she probably never would.

She replayed the events of her doctor's appointment over and over in her mind.

"_I've gone over the results of your tests and adding them to the symptoms you told me about I've determined that you have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome."_ Everything after those words was a blur in Kate's mind. She was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she wouldn't be able to have children. She had heard what the doctor had said about there being other ways to have children but, in her mind, it wouldn't be the same.

She dried the tears that had fallen down her cheek as she came up to her building and walked up the front stairs.

"Good evening Miss. Beckett," the doorman, Thomas, said cheerfully to her as he held the door open for her. Kate smiled and made her way into the elevator. The only people besides her inside were a five year old boy and his father. They made small talk with Kate and she tried to look pleasant for the kid. Luckily they got off after three floors. Kate rode the rest of the way up in complete silence, still inside of herself trying to make sense of the events of the day.

She was met at the front door of the loft by her husband holding a glass of her favorite red wine. She kicked off her heels and put them, along with her jacket, into the front hall closet. She put her badge and gun into the safe before taking the glass and drinking a long sip.

She smiled up at Rick, who stood a good head above her when she wasn't wearing heels. He lifted her chin and met her lips with his.

"Hello to you too," she said once she pulled back and for the first time in the past hour, she actually felt happy.

[] []

"You're really quiet tonight," Castle told Kate later that night over plates of his famous pasta carbonara.

"Just a lot going on in my head tonight," she said not giving any more information to him than that. Knowing the look on Kate's face, Rick let the subject drop, but made a mental note to ask her about it later.

After dinner and cleaning the kitchen the couple settled in bed with the TV and glasses of wine. Kate channel surfed and Castle attempted to write on his newest Nikki Heat novel. He would type a little then glance up at Kate.

After the fifth time, she sighed in frustration. "It was something that happened at my doctor's appointment today," she said smoothly, straight faced.

"I wasn't asking," Rick said looking up from his half-assed chapter.

"Yes well you weren't asking very loudly," she said.

"Are you going to tell me what happened or am I going to have to guess," he asked only half kidding.

She was silent for a long while, Castle waited for her to open up and tell him what was going on.

Finally she took in a shaky breath, tears forming again in her eyes. "Rick I'm sorry," she said her voice breaking.

"Kate," he breathed, pulling her into his arms. She leaned into his chest and cried, she whole body shaking. "Babe, it's all going to be ok, whatever it is. Always," he whispered into her hair. He let her cry, rubbing her back and holding her. Finally, when her sobs reduced to sniffles, she sat up and looked at him her eyes tearstained and red.

His eyes were full of questions but before he could ask them, she was up and out of their room. She came back a minute later with the pile of papers she had gotten earlier in the afternoon.

She didn't say anything, just returned to her spot in bed and handed the papers to Rick.

He shuffled through the papers for a minute before looking back at her.

Tears formed in her eyes and she scoffed a laugh.

"I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know it was this. I am so sorry," she finished in a whisper.

"Kate," He started pulling Kate back against his chest. "I told you, whatever happens we will get through this, together."

They stayed like that the rest of the night wrapped in each other's arms. Kate slept and Rick watched her sleep.

'_It could be worse,'_ he thought. '_There are things we can do about this'_

Around three in the morning, Rick finally fell into a light, fitful sleep.


	2. Conception

**A/N:**** I just wanted to take a minute to thank you for all of follows and favorites and reviews. It truly makes me feel so happy and blessed to know that people are liking the things i write.**

**Now, onto the business. This chapter is honestly the longest chapter i have EVER written. I just had to get all of the not fun stuff out of the way so that's why this chapter is kind of weird. It gets better, promise!**

**Enjoy!**

**Dsiclamor: Characters you recognize and NOT mine, the belong to the talented cast and crew on Castle. Characters you don't recognize are mine, so don't touch.**

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After getting the diagnosis that Kate would not be able to conceive a child the traditional way, the couple went over the options they had. They finally settled on trying a cycle of Invitro fertilization.

IVF involves Kate having to take drugs that would stimulate her ovaries into producing eggs which the doctors would take out of her body to be fertilized outside of her womb. After the fertilized egg had time to grow, they would be put back into her uterus. They, Rick, Kate and the doctors; would wait and hope for a month before actually knowing whether or not Kate was pregnant.

They chose Dr. Alan Michaels as Kate's fertility specialist. He is very well respected and has had many success stories in his practice. Rick and Kate researched many doctors, even meeting with some of them, finally setting on Dr. Michaels because he seemed like the only one who listened to their concerns and worries. He was able to put them at ease and answer the multitude of questions Kate had come to the meeting with.

The drugs were expensive and had very strong adverse effects on Kate's body. Their first cycle, Kate's ovaries were over stimulated which resulted in Kate being admitted into the hospital. The couple waited two months before trying again, the first time having scared Kate more than she would like anyone to know.

"Second times the charm," Rick said as they sat in the office for a second time. It worked, but unfortunately Kate miscarried a month into the pregnancy.

"Rick I can't do this anymore," Kate explained her eyes and nose red from crying for two days straight

"Kate-"He started.

"No, listen to me. I can't do this. I won't let this happen to me-"

"What are you talking about?" he asked generally confused at his wife's reticence to try again to get pregnant.

"My mom. She miscarried three times before she got pregnant with me. I'm not going to put myself and - and you through this. I don't want to start a family the same way my parents did. I want ours to be different."

"And we will. Kate when I promised we would get through this any way possible, I meant it. But I think you should think this over, don't let your emotions get the better of you. Take some time, I don't care how long, but take it. Think this through. Don't jump to any decisions."

Kate nodded and rolled back into the cocoon she had created during her two days in bed after hearing the news of her miscarriage.

A solid month went by and no talk of babies or fertility drugs was shared between the couple. That is, until one night in early May.

"I-I think I'm ready to try again," Kate said slowly.

Rick looked at her shocked. He held her gaze for a moment just to be sure she wasn't lying or telling him thing just to make him feel better.

"Are you sure? Because if you're not, it's ok," he told her taking her hand.

"I'm sure. I'm ready to try again. I can't let my fears get the best of me. I need to try one more time before striking out."

Rick just stared at her slack jawed and wide eyed. He had only seen her this dead set on something a handful of times. He knew there was no changing her mind; he just had to strap in, hang on and wait for something to happen-wrong or right.

[] []

The next week they were in the fertility specialist's office. He put Kate through the usual battery of tests. Rick and Kate were then re-taught how to give the drugs through injection: how much of the medicine to give and where they should inject it.

The needles were painful and the injection stung as it went into her body, but Kate stuck with it. She was determined not to give up.

"Ok ready?" Rick asked her, ready to give one of the last shots. Kate nodded slowly scrunching up her eyes and face. "Alright, here we go. One, two, three," Rick counted then stuck the needle in. Kate gripped at his shoulder and dug her finger nails into his skin. She yelped in pain. "I know, I know. Ok it's over," Rick said putting the cap back on the needle and getting up to throw it away.

"God I hate this," he said sitting back down on the bed, where Kate had curled up into a ball. "I hate how these shots make you feel and I don't like seeing you in pain." Kate had uncurled herself and scotched up against Rick's side seeking all of the comfort he could provide for her. He wrapped his arm around her stomach rubbing little circles with his thumb.

"I hate it too, but it's almost over. Three more days of pain and then we will hopefully be able to make a baby," she smiled even though he couldn't see.

Five days later the Castle's were once again in Dr. Michaels' office. Kate had gotten an ultrasound which determined she had six follicles ready to be retrieved.

"That's a good thing right?" Castle asked after the doctor had explained Kate's situation.

"Yes, it's a good thing," The doctor said laughing as Kate rolled her eyes. They scheduled the retrieval for the following Monday and Rick and Kate headed for home, making a stop at Remy's for a burger and a shake first.

[] []

Monday dawned bright and sunny. Rick took the good weather as a sign from the powers that be that today's procedure was going to go well.

They checked into the hospital and Kate was brought back to change and do the prep work for her surgery. Rick wasn't able to be with her during all of this because he was off giving his part in the baby making process.

"How did it go?" Kate asked when he met her back in the waiting room she was in.

"It was sexy," Rick said sarcastically making Kate laugh.

"Well I'm sorry I wasn't there to-you know set the mood," She said he voice dropping a couple of octaves. Rick smiled and kissed her on the lips.

A nurse knocked on the door and stepped in the room. "I'm sorry, was I interrupting something?" she asked.

"No not at all," Kate said trying not to laugh at the looks Rick was giving her.

"Ok. Well it's almost time for you to go back, so I'm going to give you something to help your mind relax a little bit," the nurse said sticking the needle into Kate's IV port. Kate nodded and let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding.

She instantly felt her head spin as the drugs took ahold of her senses. Naturally, Rick tried to take advantage of the state of mind Kate was in.

"Kate can we get a puppy?" he asked.

"Yes sure. Puppy's is nice," she said not aware anymore of what she was saying. The nurse laughed and just shrugged her shoulders.

"You heard that right?" Rick asked her.

"I am not responsible for anything patients say under the influence of those drugs. If you say something that gets you into trouble with your wife, that's on you, not me," she said smiling. "I'll be back in a few minutes to take her back," The nurse turned and left the room. Rick was left alone with a drugged up Kate and his racing mind. He told himself not to get all worked up, that everything is going to be fine, but the murder novelist in him kept thinking of the worst possible scenarios of things that could happen to Kate. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't hear the doctor and nurse come back into the room.

"Mr. Castle?" the doctor asked touching Rick's shoulder and pulling him out of his thoughts.

Rick looked up and smiled at the doctor.

"We're ready for her," Dr. Michael's said smiling. Rick nodded and stood up from his seat next to Kate.

He followed his wife until he couldn't go any further. He kissed Kate's cheek and watched them go through the doors and out of sight.

[] []

"They should have been done half an hour ago, Lanie. I'm starting to get worried," Rick said into his phone. He had ben pacing the waiting room since they had taken Kate back, too antsy to even get a cup of coffee.

"_Castle relax. Everything is going to be fine." _Lanie replied trying in vain to calm her friend down

"Yea but what if it's not? What if something went wrong? I should have said something. I shouldn't have let her do this; it's too much of a risk."

"_If you go on with the 'what if's' any more I will personally come down there and smack you. Kate is fine. Everything is fine and when all of this is over you are going to have a beautiful Castle baby."_

"Yea you're right."

"_Of course I am."_

The Doctor rounded the corner and entered the waiting room. "Lanie I gotta go," Rick said quickly before ending the call. He rushed up to Dr. Michaels to get information; anything good or bad. "How did it go? Is she alright?" he asked.

"It went beautifully. We got them all. They are being fertilized as we speak. Kate is in the recovery room, if you want to see her."

Rick nodded and collected his and Kate's belonging before following the doctor back to where Kate lay still asleep.

He found a chair and sat quietly waiting for her to wake up.

"Hey, Castle," Kate whispered her voice still full of sleep. Rick stood up and stood by her head, taking hold of her hand.

"Hey," he said smiling.

"Did I miss the party?" she asked

"I'm afraid so. It was so fun," he said taking her drug induced thought a bit further.

"Damn. I promise I won't miss the next one," she said.

"I know you won't," he said brushing her hair out of her face. A nurse, different than the one they had in pre-op pulled the curtain back to look at them.

"Well glad to see you awake," she said to Kate. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm ok. A little sore, but ok," Kate said. The nurse nodded and left but came back a minute later. She quickly gave Kate more pain killers directly into her IV.

A couple hours later, Kate had gotten the all clear to head home. They scheduled an appointment to get the embryos implanted the next week. A nurse came by with a wheelchair to get Kate outside to the car.

"I can walk," she protested when the nurse put her hand under Kate's arm to help her up

"We have to, it's hospital policy. Every post-op discharge must be taken to their cars in a wheelchair," the nurse explained.

Kate groaned but allowed the nurse to help her up and into the chair to be taken outside to her waiting car.

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A week went by and Kate was growing antsy. She had returned to work and was working double time to avoid all the questions that Ryan, Esposito and Lanie were giving her; they were just as antsy as she was. They were all glad when Friday rolled around. Kate got out of work for 'personal reasons' and said she would keep her friends in the loop. Everyone knew and told Kate they would pray for her and Castle.

It was dead silent in the procedure room in Dr. Michaels' office, quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Rick stood by his wife's head, holding onto her hand. One of the ultrasound monitors was turned so that the couple could watch.

"Ok I'm going to get the syringe from Cara and then we'll get started," the doctor said turning to one of the three nurses in the room. "Alright everyone ready?" he asked looking up at Kate. She nodded and squeezed Rick's has.

_Please god, please, just let this work, please. _She prayed, squeezing her eyes shut, too scared to look.

"Alright, I'm going to get the nurses to see if we got it all, and then we are done," Dr. Michaels' said smiling.

Rick and Kate both let out the breaths they were holding. She looked up at him hopping to hear him say something to make her feel better. All he could muster was a half-smile. They were both optimistic, but still knew not to get their hopes up just in case something happened.

"I want you on bed rest for the weekend. Keep your pelvis elevated for twenty four hours and no sexual activity for a week," The doctor said as he led the couple out of the office. Castle groaned under his breath, taking Kate's hand. "We will see you in ten days to see if we have a baby," Dr. Michaels' said smiling.

The couple nodded and let the door shut behind them. They walked down the hall towards the elevators and Castle pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned it on. He was forbidden to have it on during the procedure so he had to check all of his beloved social media sites, among other things.

"Hey I missed like five text messages from Lanie and the boys," Castle said as the got into the waiting elevator car. "'How did it go?' 'What's happening?' 'You should be glad you're not here. Gates is on one of her rampages.' God that must have sucked," Castle remarked after going through the messages he had gotten.

"I better call them, you know make sure they're not dead or something," Beckett said pulling out her own cell phone. "Hey Ryan, how's it going?" she asked her partner after a moment.

"_Oh everything is fine_ now." Ryan replied

"Why what happened?" Kate asked, slightly scared to know.

"_Well we were supposed to be doing paper work because we finished that case the other day. And we were taking a break and Gates comes out of her office and starts yelling at us because we weren't working. God I hate her sometimes,"_ Ryan said a slight whine to his voice. "_Enough about me; how was your thing?"_

"It went good. Now it's just a waiting game. I'm trying not to get my hopes up," she said.

"_Don't worry, everything is going to be fine," _Ryan said smiling_._

_[] []_

"Castle I am so bored!" Kate was whining. Being on bed rest for two days was starting to get to her. She couldn't work out or go outside. All she could do was sit on the couch or in bed. She thought Castle, the nine-year-old-on-a-sugar-rush-man-child in him, would break the rules and get her outside; but no. the one and only time Richard Castle stuck to the rules given to him was the weekend Kate had to stay in bed.

"Maybe this will help," Rick said coming into their bedroom holding his ipad. He set in on the bed next to her, an open game of '_Words with Friends'_ on the screen. Kate looked up at him her brow furrowed and eyes asking fifty different questions. "Just play, I promise it will make you feel better," Rick said turning and leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

Kate picked up the game and watched as her mystery opponent played their word. She looked at the board and the letters she was given before playing her word. A second later she felt her phone buzz. She unlocked it to find a new text message.

"_Purple? Really Becks, really?"_ Kate's face lit up when she realized that the mystery person she was playing the game with was none other than her best friend from high school, Madison.

"Maddi! Thank god it's you. I am SO bored," she replied before playing another word.

"_That's what I heard. Don't worry I am here to keep you company and keep your sanity intact"_

"This sucks. I hate it so much."

"_I know but it's almost over."_

Their conversation went on for over two hours, the game long forgotten. As Rick watched from the door of his study, he was so thankful that someone was able to pull Kate from her funk. She hated being stuck at home all day, especially when she had nothing to do.

Later that night the couple curled up in bed, Rick's arms wrapped around Kate's stomach.

"Thank you, for what you did today. I needed that," Kate said. Rick didn't say anything, just kissed the crown of her head and fell back into the calm, relaxed silence.

[] []

The week seemed to drag by; even the case they were working on, a member of an Irish mob who was found swimming in the Hudson, wasn't enough to keep Rick Castle and Kate Becket's minds from wandering to what was going to happen at their next OB appointment.

But finally the day arrived and as Kate sat on the same exam table she had been on when she got her diagnosis of PCOS almost half a year ago, she thought how remarkable her life was and how blessed she was to have people in her life who believe beyond reason that things would work out in the end and that bad things happen for a reason.

Kate's OB/GYN, Erin Lee, came into the room holding Kate's chart. She sat down and turned the file to a newer page. The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"I'm sorry to say-"Dr. Lee began to say and Kate gripped Rick's hand. "That there might be another Richard Castle running free in Ney York City," she said as Rick's jaw fell to the floor and Kate started to cry. "Congratulations Kate. You're pregnant."

They didn't know what to say or do. Rick's first instinct was to kiss his wife, but he knew she didn't like public displays of affection, so he just let his smile and eyes do all the talking.

"Are you sure I'm going to be alright? I mean given my history and all." Kate asked stopping the celebration dead in its tracks.

"We will monitor your pregnancy very carefully. If anything were to go wrong, you would be in good hands," Dr. Lee said reassuring Kate.

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"Should we tell your dad first?" Rick asked on the drive home from their appointment.

"I don't think we should tell anyone until after my first trimester, just in case something happens." Kate said. She wanted so much to be happy about being pregnant, it was what she was hoping would happen, but something in the pit of her stomach told her not too. She was scared. She didn't want to get her hopes up and have then crushed like a cookie the big kids took from her on the playground at school when she was six.

"If it's what you want, then we will wait," Rick said kissing the back of her hand. And just like that, the subject was dropped.

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**A/N: So, what did you think? And also i want to congragulate Nathan Fillion and the who team at Castle for their 2 PCA's :) i am SO happy for you guys.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N- Wow, two chapters in one day? I must really love you guys. :) Anyway, tanks for all of the new favorites, follows and reviews, they mean a lot to me.**

**Disclamor: not mine, I just borrow them sometimes**

**Enjoy!**

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July- Four weeks Pregnant

Morning sickness had hit Kate Beckett hard: when she wasn't throwing up she was nauseous and when she wasn't nauseous she was throwing up. She tried to hide it at work; she didn't want anyone taking pity on her.

Kate's first OB visit was coming up and she was excited to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time and to see how to make her morning sickness not as bad because if it kept up the way it was, she was going to kill someone.

On the afternoon of her appointment Castle came striding into the precinct. He said hi to all of his friends as he walked towards Kate's desk. He found her standing in front of the murder board her hand on the small of her back as she tried to figure out the missing piece to the puzzle. He stood there watching her not wanting to disturb her thought process.

"Hey," he said after a moment getting her attention. She looked towards where his voice had come from.

"Hey," she said smiling. He walked over towards her, pulling her in for a small kiss.

"You ready to go?" he asked.

"Yes, just let me grab my coat," She said stepping around her desk. She pulled her jacket and purse from under her chair and turned off her computer.

"Where are you two off too?" Esposito asked as Castle and Beckett passed his desk.

"Out," she said plainly.

"Out where?"

"It's none of your business," She said over her shoulder. Javier shook his head, knowing full well where his partner was going. It was impossible to keep a secret in their friend group; he had gotten the information out of Kate when he caught her getting sick in the break room. She had tried to deny it, but Esposito knew how to get Kate to talk.

"Ok fine, don't tell me. Watch what happens when I keep secrets from you," He called out as the elevator doors closed. The last thing he saw were Becket's eyes roll and a smile spread across her mouth.

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Rick and Kate found seats in the crowded waiting of her OB/GYN's office. Kate leafed through a magazine as Castle played one of his many games of '_Angry Birds_.' Kate could feel someone staring at her, but ignored it for as long as possible.

"I like that movie," A little girl's voice said. Kate looked to her right to see a little girl, about three years old, staring at the magazine she was holding. The girl was pointing at a picture of Tinker Bell in an ad for a new movie she was in.

"I do too. Tinker Bell is my favorite," Kate said smiling at the girl. Kate noticed that the girl's long honey colored hair was falling from the braid it was in and into her face.

A man, who Kate assumed was her father, picked the girl up, sat in the chair and set the girl onto his lap. "I'm sorry was she bothering you?" he asked.

"Oh not at all. We were just bonding over our mutual love of Tinker Bell+

," Kate said. "I'm Kate," She said extending her hand towards the man.

"Cam," He replied returning Kate's handshake. "And this is Gabriella," He said pointing at the girl who had turned her head at the mention of her name. "My wife Claire is back getting checked. This is our third. Our oldest son is playing at a friend's house," He said.

"Are you having a little brother like my mommy?" Gabriella asked Kate.

She shook her head that the girl. "I don't know yet. Hopefully soon I will though. Wow a brother, you must be excited," Kate asked.

The girl shook her head. "Boys are icky. And they don't play any good games, just the ones with guns and battles," she said honestly.

Kate laughed at the girl's remark. "Boys aren't all that bad. They come in handy when things go wrong," she told the kid thinking back to the many times Ryan, Esposito and even Castle had her back when things went bad.

"Ready to go," A blonde woman, Kate assumed to be Cam's wife, Claire, asked walking up to them.

"Yup," Cam said standing up and setting his daughter on his hip. "It was nice talking to you Kate," He said.

"You too. It was nice talking to you Gabriella," Kate said looking at the little girl.

"Bye," The girl waved towards Kate as she was carried out the office door.

After two more women were called, it was Kate's turn to follow the nurse back to have her weight and blood pressure checked. The nurse wrote the measurements into Kate's chart and led her and Castle into an empty exam room.

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Kate tensed her stomach muscles as the ultrasound tech squirted the cold gel onto her stomach. Rick was standing by her head excitedly waiting.

The tech put the probe over the gel and swirled it around a bit. She pushed a few buttons on the computer and after a moment a picture appeared on the monitor in front of Kate. She pointed out different things like to make sure everyone in the room was oriented on where things were on the inside.

"Alright well here is baby 'A'," she said moving the picture of the fetus. The beginnings of hands and feet were visible and they listened to the baby's heartbeat for a minute before moving on. "And here is baby 'B', 'C', and 'D' she said showing them three more little alien/bug like things. She turned the machine off and moved to clean up Kate's stomach.

"Wait a minute, did you just say four? Kate is pregnant with four babies?" Castle finally spoke up asking the question both he and Kate were silently asking each other.

"Looks like it," The tech said handing then pictures form the sonogram as she left the room.

No one spoke they were too shocked to speak.

Rick and Kate knew there was a risk of this happening. They knew it could happen when they were asked how many of the embryos to implant two months ago. They chose to implant four of the six they had and were warned that there was a risk of ending up with a multiple pregnancy. Richard Castle never imagined in a million years that he would be the future father to four babies. And the pictures made it that more real.

"Kate?" Rick asked looking at his wife. She was crying silently, tears falling down her cheeks. "Hey, babe it's going to be alright," he said bending down to her. Her face was red and scrunched up and the tears continued to fall down her cheeks and into her hair.

"Castle, what are we going to do?" she asked through her tears.

"What we've always done. We're going to take it one minute, one hour, one day, at a time. You and I are going to do it, together. It's going to be ok," he said wiping the tears off her cheeks and getting her hair away from her face.

"Rick, I'm so scared," she confided in him, still crying. She sat up and wrapped her arms around his neck, seeking his comfort.

"Me too," he replied his voice breaking. They held each other and cried for a few minutes until the doctor finally knocked on the door. They pulled apart and wiped their eyes and noses.

"Ok so I know you're probably scared right?" Dr. Lee asked. She watched the two nod and give her watery smiles and small laughs. "You have options. It's still early enough for something called 'selected reduction.' We abort one or more of the fetuses and-"She didn't finish because Kate spoke up.

"No we won't be doing that. There is no way in hell I'm killing these babies."

Dr. Lee nodded. She had a suspicion that Kate would say something like that. She had known the woman for twenty years now. She knew the way Kate Beckett's mind worked. When a problem was put in her path she used all of her mind, body and spirit to overcome it. "Well in that case, will have to watch you even more closely now. I'm putting you on my schedule every week from now until you deliver and I'm also giving you an order to eat better," she said. Kate's face had guilt written all over it. It was true that, even pregnant, Kate Beckett had an un-dying love of all things take out, especially Chinese, it was her favorite. "It won't be easy, I'll tell you that," Dr. Lee continued. "But not impossible."

Rick and Kate smiled at each other. In their world, 'impossible' is a dirty word. They were glad that the doctor respected their wishes and was even willing to help them out.

They talked with the doctor a while longer before shaking hands and leaving the office.

[] []

There were no words to describe how they felt and Rick and Kate left the office half an hour later. Elated, shocked, scared, hungry. The latter was from not eating lunch before Kate's appointment.

"We have to tell them," Kate finally said finally breaking the silence between them.

"Tell who?" Rick asked turning his eyes away from the road for a split second to look at Kate.

"Our parents. We need to tell them."

"I thought we were going to wait to tell them?"

"We were. But after this, I think they deserve to know."

Castle agreed and as they pulled up in front of their building.

Kate kicked off her heels and closed the door to her bedroom to call her dad as Castle went into the kitchen to call his mother.

[] []

"Yes dad, I'm sure," Kate reassured her dad for the fifth time. She had told him about her pregnancy. Jim was happy for his daughter, but he was stunned to hear about the unexpected news she had received that afternoon. He had been warned from the beginning that this could happen, but hearing it made knowing all too real. "Dad, it's going to be ok," Kate said.

"I know, I know. I'm just worried about you, Katie." He said pacing his dining room.

"Don't worry dad. I'm fine. My doctor is watching me closely, everything is fine."

"I know. I love you, you know that right?"

"Yea dad I know that. I love you too."

They ended the call and Kate fell back against her pillow, closing her eyes and internally wishing she could be invisible in this moment.

[] []

Castle's phone conversation with his mother went better than expected. Martha took the news in her own stride. She was happy for her son and daughter in-law. But still there was the moment of shock upon hearing the news. At first she thought her son was joking but after ten minutes of back and forth talk, Martha realized that Rick wasn't lying or joking.

"Give Kate my love, Darling. I have to take my leave," Martha said ending the call with the excuse of having an acting class to teach.

[] []

"Well that went well," Rick said falling back onto his pillow. He turned to look at Kate whose face was covered by her hair.

Kate scoffed a laugh and rolled her eyes.

"What was you dad that bad?" he asked.

"Castle, what did we get ourselves into?" Kate asked, sitting up and laying down with her head on Rick's chest. Her ear on top of his heart, she listened to his beating heart for a minute.

"We have started a family. I have successfully gotten you pregnant, Kate Beckett," he said wagging his eyebrows.

"Don't get too cocky writer-boy. It wasn't you who got me pregnant, it was a doctor with a turkey baster," Rick laughed, deep and loud. Kate realized what she had said and laughed too. If you put it that way, it sounded really bad and _really_ funny.

The two laughed until their stomach's hurt and tears rolled down their faces.

Once they had caught their breaths, Rick laid back down, pulling Kate with him. She snuggled into the curve of his body, her small frame fitting perfectly. He placed a hand on her stomach, right above her belly button.

"I love you," he whispered into her ear. He kissed her temple and smiled.

"I love you too," she said kissing the back of his hand. She put it back, the spot it left now cold. He rubbed circles with his thumb. Her breath on his arm was warm and he felt it even out as she fell asleep, with him not far behind.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N- Hello friends! Just wanted to say this whole 'bombshell happens, must tell people' thing ends with this chapter. I had to get all of the boring stuff out of the way so i could get on with the fun stuff. Enjoy!**

* * *

August-Eight weeks pregnant

He rounded the corner to their bathroom and stopped at the doorway. She stood at the sink brushing her teeth. He stood there for a moment staring at her profile. To the untrained eye or to people not in on their secret, Kate looked like she had simply eaten a big lunch; but to people who knew, Kate had begun to show a 'baby bump.' Kate thought she was growing faster than normal but Rick commented that she was bigger than most pregnancies because their babies were smarter than other babies their age.

They were headed to their eight week OB visit. They would be able to see how the babies were growing.

"Ready?" Rick asked getting her attention. She spat out the foam in her mouth and wiped her mouth on the towel on the rack behind her.

"Yea, just let me get my shoes on," She said walking out of the bathroom, flipping off the light as she went. She picked up her favorite pair of heeled boots off the floor and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Are we still picking up Alexis?" she asked zipping up the boots.

"Yea. She's really excited about it too."

Alexis had known of Kate's pregnancy since the day she had found out. Alexis was beyond excited about the thought of having a little brother or sister and Martha was happy for Rick and Kate and also for her new grandchildren.

Rick and Kate had invited their family to this appointment to share in the experience and the couple was off to pick up Alexis from school as Martha had other obligations and would be meeting them at the office.

The drive to Alexis' school didn't take very long and before they knew it they were parking in front of the main building to wait for the girl. She walked through the doors a few minutes later and Rick bounced out of the car to greet her. They hugged quickly and Alexis opened the back door of Kate's black car.

"Hey kiddo," Kate said pulling away from the curb and into traffic.

"Hey Kate," she said cheerfully pulling her seatbelt over her shoulder.

"So, how's school going? Your attending giving you grief?" Kate asked Alexis.

She had just started her first year of medical school and was already on rotations in hospitals working on various departments.

"Not really, no. I'm mainly in skills labs right now. Hopefully next semester I will be doing my first rotation," Alexis explained.

"I guess all that time with Lanie in the morgue did some good for you, huh?" Rick asked his daughter.

She laughed. "Well it sparked my interest in becoming a doctor. So I guess in a way it did help," she said.

"Oh, speaking of Lanie, she says 'hi'," Kate said.

"Oh well next time you see her, tell her 'hi' from me," Alexis smiled, she had developed a friendship with the ME and wished she could spend more time with her, but as of right now, that was out of the question.

They made small talk the rest of the drive and soon were pulling into the parking garage of the tall office building in lower Manhattan.

[] []

"Hey Gram," Alexis said pulling her grandmother in for a hug. The group had found Martha holding a row of seats in the corner of the office. Kate had gone to get checked in for her appointment leaving Rick and Alexis alone with Martha for a few minutes.

"So, how's our girl doing?" Martha asked Rick, referring to Kate's pregnancy, among other things.

"She's doing good. Glad her morning sickness has finally stopped. But now it's fatigue. She is tired all the time. And the worst of it is she can't drink coffee. I seriously thought she was going to kill me a few times, but luckily she didn't," he said cringing at the memory of one bad morning. Kate had wanted to stay in bed but got called to a crime scene. By two that afternoon she was tired and cranky and was letting it out on Castle and the boys. Rick knew she didn't mean it but that day he feared for his life a little bit.

"What were you talking about?" Kate asked taking a seat on Rick other side.

"I just asked my child how you were doing," Martha answered after a moment of silence.

"I'm ok," Kate confided. She was glad to have Martha in her life, especially now that she was pregnant. Not to say that her dad isn't great, but sometimes she needed a women's opinion and help. "I've been really tired lately. Like all I think about is going to bed and sleeping all day."

"It's doesn't get any better once the baby is born, kiddo," Martha said patting Kate's thigh.

"Katherine Beckett?" a nurse called. The family stood up and followed the nurse back through the heavy oak door.

[] []

Kate tensed her stomach muscles as the ultrasound tech squirted the cold gel onto her stomach. Kate wondered if it was always this cold or if the nurses made it colder than normal just to screw with her.

Rick, Alexis and Martha were standing by her head excitedly waiting. No matter how many times he had been to one of Kate's ultrasound appointment it still amazed Rick to see how the babies were growing and how they went from little bugs to actually looking like people.

The tech pushed a few buttons on the computer and after a moment a picture appeared on the monitor in front of the family. Kate smiled to see that her babies were still growing inside her. The gentle whooshing of a little heartbeat put the room into a momentary trance.

"Alright well here is baby 'A'," she said moving the picture of the fetus. Its hands looked like it was waving at its family. "And here is baby 'B', 'C', and 'D' she said showing the other three babies. She moved the wand lower on Kate belly and showed them baby 'E'. She turned the machine off and moved to clean up Kate's stomach.

"Wait a minute, did you just say five? Kate is pregnant with five babies?" Martha finally spoke up

"Looks like it," The tech said handing then pictures form the sonogram as she left the room.

No one spoke they were all too shocked to speak.

The room spun. Rick suddenly got dizzy and had to sit down. He took long slow breaths trying to calm his racing heart and pounding head.

"Five?" Kate breathed. She was stunned, how could there be four one minute and five the next?

"I think we'll wait outside," Martha said leading Alexis out with a hand on the young redhead's shoulder.

The door clicked shut and Castle and Beckett didn't speak they locked eyes and let their faces do all the talking.

Dr. Le knocked at the door and walked in, holing Kate's chart. She sat down on a stool and waited for her patient to speak.

"Twins," Dr. Lee said after a silent minute. Kate's brow furrowed and Rick looked at the OB quizzically. "Two of the babies are twins. That's how the number increased to five."

"How come we didn't see this a month ago?" Rick asked honestly wonder how a fifth heartbeat was missed.

"Sometimes, in multiple pregnancies, another heartbeat can be missed. It's more common than you think," she said answering Castle's question. "Kate, what are you thinking?" she asked looking at Kate's still furrowed brow. The cop had her thumb nail in her mouth, like she did when she was thinking about something.

"What-"she started trying to find the right words.

"You're wondering how this will affect the remainder of your pregnancy and what's going to happen, right?" Lee asked. Kate nodded, her brow still furrowed but less than a minute ago. "It doesn't change a thing. It just a little bit more risk to an already high risk pregnancy. We will still watch you closely and make sure all the babies are growing and developing as they should be." The young doctor smiled reassuring her patient. Kate finished the rest of her exam and left the office with another appointment.

[] []

They found Alexis and Martha sitting out in the hallway. Alexis looked as though she had been crying.

"Come here," Rick said pulling his daughter towards him and into a hug. They stayed like that for a while as Alexis cried once again. "What's with the tears?" he asked as she dried her tears.

"I don't know I guess I was just overwhelmed. I mean I just came to terms with having one sibling, and now I have five. It's a little scary," Alexis explained as they walked towards their cars.

"Believe me we felt the exact same thing. Shocked, scared, worried. But you and I are not in it alone. We have each other and you dad and you grandmother. We're all in this together," Kate said pulling her step-daughter aside.

"I'm happy for you, I really am. It's just a lot to take in," Alexis said.

"I know," Kate said smiling. The two hugged and followed the rest of their family to their car.

They drove home, Alexis deciding to stay the night, having left a pair of pajamas and a change of clothes at the loft for that particular reason.

Chinese food was ordered in. The Castle's curled up on the couch, plates of food on their laps, with a zombie movie playing in the background.

"How are we going to tell Lanie and the boys about the babies?" Kate asked Rick.

He turned to her a piece of Lo Mein hanging out of the side of his mouth. Being the best-selling author he was, the words weren't coming to him in this moment. Kate laughed and kissed his cheek.

She let the thought hang in their air and tuned back into the movie just as the zombie hoard was wreaking havoc on the town the movie was set in.

Telling their friends would come later.

[] []

_One week later_

The original plan was to wait to tell any of their friends until after their twelve week check-up; but given the circumstances Rick and Kate decided it was time to tell them.

The Friday after the ultrasound appointment, the group of friends met at The Old Haunt. They got their favorite booth; the one tucked in the corner and ordered a round of drinks.

Ryan and Jenny had miraculously found a last minute sitter for their two-year-old daughter Grace and were very happy to have a night off from being parents. Jenny had cut her blonde hair short and was wearing glasses instead of contacts.

"Make her drink a double," Lanie said to their waiter in regards to Jenny's strawberry margarita. All of the girls laughed until they cried. They truly love spending time together and wished they could do it more often than twice a month.

Castle, Ryan and Esposito were arguing about who they think should have won the World Series. Castle and Ryan had both wanted the same team to win, leaving Esposito to fend for himself.

"Just leave it alone Javier. You're out numbered and at the rate this is going you're going to get hit before Kevin and Rick admit to being wrong," Jenny told her husband's best friend.

"No, no, no, Jen we are men and men settle things, right?" Ryan asked looking at the other boys. They nod and Castle pulls a quarter out of his pocket.

"Heads, Ryan's right; tails Esposito and I are," Castle says explaining the rules of the coin toss. He flicks the coin in the air, catches it and slaps it onto the back of his hand. "I call a do over!" he yells looking at the upturned heads side of the coin.

"Not a chance Castle, I won fair and square. You're just a sore loser," Ryan said sipping at his beer.

The boys got lost in a football game that was being shown and the girls returned to their conversation.

"How are things between you and Javier?" Jenny asked Lanie. Having been out of the loop for the better part of a year, Jenny hungered for information on Esplanie.

"It's ok. We're taking things slow. He ready to take it to the next level but I'm scared," Lanie confided in her girlfriends.

"Remember what you told me? Don't wait forever, because he might not wait that long. Just do it," Kate said spitting the words Lanie had told her years ago right back in her face.

Lanie narrowed her eyes at Kate but knew what she said was true. Lanie loved him, she was scared what would happen if she acted on it and her relationship and friendship with Javi blew up in her face.

The girls sipped their drinks and tried to watch the game.

"So, how are things?" Lanie asked Kate putting a hand on her stomach.

"Well something happened at me last OB visit," Kate said.

"Oh my god did you lose the baby?" Jenny asked holding onto Kate's elbow.

"No, no," she said reassuring her friend. "Actually the opposite. We just found out that I'm pregnant with quintuplets," Kate said a huge grim spreading across her face.

Lanie immediately threw her arms around her friend.

"What happened?" Esposito asked tuning back into the conversation.

"I'm having quintuplets," Kate told her friend. His jaw dropped and Kate laughed. "I had the same reaction. But now that I've had time to think it over I'm so excited," she smiled.

"Wait, wait. Lanie, you knew?" Javi asked his girlfriend.

"Javi, you of all people should know that I know everything. Besides I'm the maid of honor, I get to know things before people," the ME said with a laugh.

"Well I'm happy for you Beckett, "Esposito said puling his partner in for a hug.

"I propose a toast," Ryan said lifting his glass. "To friends; to family and to little Castle babies," everyone laughed and clinked their glasses together.


	5. Chapter 5

September- ten weeks pregnant

Hot tea ran down Kate's throat. It was a welcome reprieve from the cold, wet and rainy weather New York had been having the past couple of days. She would never in a million years say that tea was better than coffee, but right now it was better than nothing.

Apparently other people had the same idea because there were no empty tables to sit at. Luckily after a few minutes a group of high school kids occupying a table left and Kate swooped in and took the now empty seat before anyone could snag it. She slid down into a chair and propped her swollen feet into a chair across from her. She tried to cover her showing stomach but even the old NYPD shirt she stole from Ryan's gym locker made little effort in covering the exposed skin of her growing belly. Kate was mad about not being able to fit in her clothes and having to result to stealing things from the closets of her husband and guy friends.

"Katie!" she looked up from the book she was reading to see her dad walking towards her.

"Hey dad," she stood and pulled him into a hug.

"How are you?" he asked putting a hand over her stomach.

"I'm good," Kate lied. She was most definitely _not_ good. Everything on her body hurt, she had the worst heartburn she had ever had in her life and to top it all off she now can't fit in her clothes. Right now being pregnant sucked.

They made small talk, catching up on life. Jim asked Kate about work and the cases she was working on, and Kate asked her dad how his law firm was doing.

[] []

"So I went to the doctors again a few days ago," Kate said turning for her purse once her dad returned with another coffee.

"Really? How did that go?" Jim knew about the high risk of Kate's pregnancy and was itching for new information about the babies.

"It went good. I'm going to have to stop work soon. I already can't go out in the field. All I can do is sit around and do paperwork, so much use that is."

"Now that's not true. I'm sure you still help the boys with that big mind of yours." Kate smiled.

"I have new pictures for you," Kate said laying the sonogram photos out on the table. Jim smiled at the newest photos of his grandchildren. He ran his finger over the tiny silhouettes counting all of the fingers and toes; they were perfect, at least in his mind.

"They are growing so fast," Jim said smiling.

"Yes, I know," She said toying with the hem of her shirt.

"Are the twins still sitting on top of each other?" They had recently found out that two of the babies are identical twins. They didn't know whether they were boys or girls yet, but they are twins nonetheless.

"Yes and they are sitting right on top of my bladder. I swear those two are the reason I have to pee every ten minutes." Jim smiled and laughed. "Gee thanks dad. You concern is really touching," Kate said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry. You did that to your mom you know."

"I did?"

"Yes you did. Practically the entire time you mom was pregnant; you sat right on top of her bladder. Looks like those babies have more of you in them than you originally thought," Jim said running his hand over Kate's belly.

Jim took another sip of his coffee and looked at his watch. "I'm sorry Katie I really have to get back," he said standing, pulling on his coat. Kate nodded and stood too, a little slower than her dad. "Need me to help you get a cab?" he asked walking with her out the door and into the cold drizzle.

"Dad, I'm a big girl. I think I can get a cab on my own," she said smiling and rolling her eyes.

"All right, well I'll talk to you later," Jim said pulling his daughter in for a hug.

"Bye dad. I love you," Kate said.

"I love you too." Jim turned and began walking down the street. Kate waited a moment before hailing the nearest cab and telling the driver her address.

Back inside, a writer made final notes before pulling out her computer and typing a quick e-mail to her editor. This was definitely going to get her on the front page.


	6. Chapter 6

**An heir to the Castle throne?**

Page six has just un-covered a direct source that confirms that best-selling author, Richard Castle, will be a father again. Our source saw Castle's wife, detective Kate Beckett, in a local coffee shop on Friday. She was having a meeting with a man we have confirmed to be her father, James Beckett; a prominent New York Lawyer. Kate was seen drinking tea, forgoing her usual coffee, and seemed happy to visit with her father. Our source says Kate looked self-conscious about her stomach and continuously checked to make sure her shirt was covering it. (Page Six has also noted that in weeks prior to this clandestine meeting, Kate has been seen wearing baggier clothing.) The pair made small talk until the elder Beckett brought up his daughter's pregnancy. Kate was seen smiling and pulled pictures out of her purse (see box for pictures). James perked up when he saw the pictures and was seen feeling his daughter's stomach a number of times during the meeting. They two left shortly after looking at the pictures.

Our source claims to have been in contact with people close to Mr. Castle and his wife and tells Page Six that the couple has had fertility issues and finally went to a fertility specialist who was able to get Beckett pregnant. The source close to Castle also tells our reporter that Beckett is expecting quintuplets. Right now this is just speculation, but we are fairly certain this information to be true.

So will it be one? Five? Boys? Girls? Only time will tell. As always Page Six will keep our faithful readers up to date on the latest information.

[] []

"Damn it, Gina!" Richard Castle screamed into his phone at his agent. He had just seen the article written about Kate in Page Six and he was furious. He paced his office; too mad to sit down and rationally think things through. "How could you let this happen?"

"I didn't even know about this whole mess until I heard about it this morning," The blonde confessed.

"What do you mean 'you didn't hear about it'? You're my agent. You are supposed to stop these things from happening!" Rick was very close to losing it. It wasn't that the article had come out; it was that someone had been watching Kate during her coffee date with her dad. He was scared to think how Jim would react to being on Page Six.

"I'll handle it!" Gina said, attempting to calm her client/ ex-husband down.

"You better or I swear," Rick threatened. He got a quick bye from Gina before the line went dead. Rick sighed loudly and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Richard Castle!" Kate's voice range through the empty loft. The front door slammed shut and the sound of heels hitting hardwood floors got closer and closer to his office. She came through the door and slammed the open paper on the desk. "What the hell is this?" she asked pointing to the pictures that accompanied the article. They were of the newest sonogram photos Kate had gotten and brought to show her dad. They weren't clear enough to make out too much detail, but showed that Kate was most definitely pregnant. "So what, not only do I have to worry about paparazzi following me at around at work and in life but now I have to worry about them following my dad? What's next they're gonna start staking out the precinct? Or following Ryan and Esposito? Or Lanie? I mean when is enough, enough?"

"Look I know you're mad-"Castle began but was cut off by his wife.

"Oh no; I was mad when you opened my mom's murder case the first time. I was mad when Esposito ate all my jelly beans and didn't buy me more. I'm well past mad. I'm _this _close to personally finding that journalist and beating the crap out of him," Kate ended her rant by falling onto the couch in Castle's office.

"Babe, I'm just as mad as you," Rick started rolling in his chair to end up in front of Kate. "And I've already had words with Gina about how she let this happen. I'll fix this. I will," he said lifting her chin to look into her wet eyes.

"It's not even about the article. This is a very emotional time for me and I just wanted some time to get used to the changes going on in my life. I didn't want to worry about these types of thing because I knew it would happen sooner or later. All I wanted was three months. Is that too much to ask?" she wiped at the few tears that had escaped her eyes.

"Of course not! We should have said something sooner. You deserve some sort of privacy, especially now," Rick said. They found each other's eyes: cobalt blue meeting emerald green. The two held each other's gave for a moment, silently communicating an apology.

The moment was lost when both of their cell phones range at the same time. Castle's ring tone of the Imperial March from Star Wars signified that Gina was calling and Kate's phone sang out the Black Eyed Pea's version of 'Time of my Life'.

"Hey Lanie," Kate said into the phone that had been put on speaker.

"Girl have you seen the article about you in Page Six?" the ME asked.

"Yes," Kate sighed rubbing her temple. Great now everyone in the five boroughs knew about her pregnancy.

"Do you need me to find that office and smack the guy who wrote the article, because you know I will? Just say the word," Lanie said.

Kate laughed at her friend's willingness to help out. "Don't worry," she said. "Castle's already taken care of it, I hope. But if you get word of a murder involving Castle or me, you never heard or saw a thing," Kate said. Lanie laughed.

"Hey the boys are still mad you didn't tell them first."

"Yea well they'll get over it," Kate could hear her friend laugh. "Listen Lanie I gotta go," Kate said looking at Castle who was signaling for her to wrap it up.

"Ok I'll talk to you soon," Lanie said. "Oh and Ryan says he wants his shirt back," Kate rolled her eyes and said good bye before ending the call.

Rick took his phone off hold the second Kate's phone went dead. "Ok Gina, go ahead," He said to the waiting agent on the other end.

"I spoke with the editor of the article and he told me that he thought you had given approval to print it. When I told him you hadn't, he became very mad. Said he would re-tract the article and asked if you wanted to give a statement," Gina reported. Rick looked at Kate and she nodded.

"Of course we want to give a statement," He said.

"Ok well write it out and e-mail it to me. I want it ASAP, ok?"

"Don't worry it will get to you soon," they ended the call and Rick pulled his laptop in front of him and opened a new word document.

His fingers flew across the keys; ideas flowing from his mind to his finger to the keyboard to the page. After a few minutes, Castle stopped typing and turned the computer screen to show his muse. She read the statement he had written, added a few things and erased others. Finally they agreed on the right thing to say and sent the finished product to Gina. He closed his laptop and pulled Kate close. He planted a kiss in her hair and breathed her scent in: cherries with a hint of the aloe lotion she uses. Soft, sweet and all for him. His Katie.

[] []

**A Letter from the Editor**

In response to that article that was published last week, murder novelist Richard Castle has issued the following statement: "After seeing that article on my family in Page Six last week, I was disappointed. I was appalled that with the lack of entertainment gossip, the writer of said article had to result to following my wife to a meeting with her father. We are angry that now we can't leave our apartment without being followed and now our extended family is getting involved. To set the record straight: yes my wife, Kate, is expecting our first child. All the information we are releasing right now is that Kate's pregnancy is very high risk. Because of that we ask that everyone respect our privacy. I feel that my family and I have the right to enjoy this moment in our lives. We will reveal other information when the time is right, but until then I ask that no one ask Kate, myself or any of our family and friends to give out details. And if we get word that reporters are following us without our permission or another article is printed without my knowledge, there will be legal action."

Page Six has agreed to respect the wishes of Mr. Castle and will release information as we know it.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N Hey guys! well life's been pretty busy on my front, but i was ably to find enough time to write for y'all. i wanted to know something: do you think i should have titles for all of the chapers, since i started with chapter titles? if so, what should i call them? Write me a review and let me know. until next time, enjoy.**

**Disclamor- not mine i just borrow them sometimes. They belong to AWM and CO.**

* * *

September- Twelve weeks pregnant

The leaves were beginning to change and the air had taken on a slight chill. Fall was closing in on the island of Manhattan.

The wild wind whipped at the windows of the loft, but inside, tangled together, Rick Castle and Kate Beckett didn't feel or hear the wind or the cold.

They both loved lazy Saturday mornings, but for different reasons. Kate loved them because they only happened once in a blue moon for her; she was usually off to a crime scene on Saturday mornings. Rick loved it because it usually meant morning sex, pancakes, and cartoons. The nine year old in him loved Saturday.

"We gotta get up," Kate whispered sleepily, not opening her eyes.

"Nuh uh," Castle whined, burrowing deeper into the sheets. "Five more minutes."

"Castle I let you have 'five more minutes' half an hour ago. We need to get up if we're going to make it to lunch with my dad." Castle groaned and rolled over. He didn't even want to have this lunch in the first place. He hated getting all dressed up and going to fancy restaurants. But it was a celebration for Kate's dad, who just finished a very difficult trial, and it meant a lot to Kate.

"Come on," Kate said, slowly sitting up.

Only just ending the first trimester of her pregnancy, Kate's stomach was the size of someone two or three months further along in their pregnancy. She hated being so big, she hated not fitting in her clothes anymore, but most of all she hated not being able to have sex with her husband. She wanted, oh she wanted to, but it was just too difficult and awkward. She could ravish him all she wanted, they had figured out ways for that, but until these babies were born, Kate Beckett wasn't getting laid anytime soon.

She walked into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee for Castle, who Kate knew couldn't function properly until he had at least one cup in his body, and put on a kettle of water for her tea. A few minutes later, Kate fixed the coffee just the way Castle liked it, and turned back to her bedroom.

Castle was in the same spot she had left him. She put the coffee under his nose and watched as his face crinkled and he woke up a little bit more.

"Castle, come on you need to get up," Kate said. He sighed, but complied with her request.

After drinking down the tongue burning coffee, Castle, finally, got out of bed and headed for the shower. At the door her turned back and looked at Kate. She knew from the look of his face what he was asking. She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"In your dreams writer boy," she said. Castle frowned and continued into the bathroom, muttering something about his dreams coming true.

Kate smiled and went back to making the bed.

He came out a while later, clean and more awake. He walked into their shared closet, and found Kate looking through his dress shirts.

"Which one do you like?" she asked holing up a navy blue and a wine red colored shirt.

"I like them both, that's why I bought them," he said pulling the blue one out of her hands and putting it on.

"Castle, I'm being serious. I need something to wear," she said, almost whining. He smiled gently at her. She was so cute when she got mad. He reached over her head and pulled down an olive green shirt. It was one of his favorites and he knew Kate loved it too.

"Here," he said smiling. "This one," he began, wrapping his arms around her middle and kissing her lightly. "Will be perfect."

She smiled, the green in her eyes shining brightly. She looked at the clock on her phone and audibly gasped.

"We need to leave like an hour ago," she said.

They changed quickly and left the loft, locking the door behind them.

[] []

"Sorry we're late, traffic," Kate said hugging her father. Rick and Jim shook hands exchanging hellos

They took their seats at the table, and Kate noticed the woman sitting there. She smiled.

"Hi, I'm Kate," she said holing out her hand.

"Oh, sorry. Katie, Rick, this is my friend Charlotte," Jim said to the woman sitting next to him. She had dark brown hair and blue eyes. She was pretty. She looked about Jim's age, which calmed Kate's stomach a little.

"So, you're the famous Katie? James has told me so much about you," she said smiling. "And you," she continued turning towards Rick, "Are Richard Castle. Your reputation precedes you," Charlotte smiled.

"Hopefully it's a good one," Rick said smiling and shaking Charlotte's hand.

"For the most part, yes. James was telling me how you've been working with Kate for a few years now, how has that been?"

"Yes we've been partners since about 2009. It's been fun. I originally started shadowing Beckett for research for my book, but I grew attached to the team and haven't left."

Kate smiled; Castle was eating up all of the attention.

"Char worked on the case with me. I invited her too. Hope that's alright," Jim confessed. Kate smiled, and grabbed her dad's hand from across the table.

"Of course it's alright," she said.

The ordered drinks, and Kate watched as her dad and Charlotte kept looking at each other. As Lanie would say 'they are undressing each other with their eyes.' Kate didn't know what to think. This was the first woman she had seen her dad with since her mom died.

She liked Charlotte, she came off as a very nice person; but it didn't matter what she thought. All that mattered was that her dad was happy. He deserved to be happy, what with all of the stuff he's been though.

"So, how are the kids?" Jim asked. Kate laughed and smiled.

"They're good. We find out what they are in a month, I'm excited for that."

"Any names picked out yet?"

"We've thought about some, but decided to wait until we're sure before deciding," Kate said. She and Rick had been looking through books and online for baby names. They had pages and pages of possible names in an empty notebook of Castle's, but they wanted to wait, make sure they don't jump to conclusions on anything.

"James told me you were expecting, congratulations," Charlotte smiled.

"Thank you," Kate said. "We're really excited, and blessed." She didn't want to give away their whole story, but just enough to satisfy her dad's friend's curiosity.

Their food came and the group got very quiet, none of them realizing how hungry they were until food was placed in front of them.

They talked and laughed the entire meal. Castle and Beckett told Charlotte the story about the tiger and how they were handcuffed together. Jim recounted the time he took Kate to a baseball game and she got hit by a rogue foul ball. Kate's face turned bright red, she was embarrassed, but having a lot of fun. She had forgotten about that day until her dad brought it up again.

As they were winding down, finishing their drinks and waiting for the check to come, Jim reached under his seat, pulling something out of a crinkling paper shopping bag.

"Katie, I have something for you," he said handing the present to his daughter.

Kate gasped and tears formed at her eyes. The present was a scrapbook. The cover was purple, her favorite color, and covered with flowers and butterflies. There was a picture of a young Kate, wearing pigtails, with a gap between her two front teeth. The first page was of Kate and her parents standing in front of a school. Under the picture it said 'Katie: third grade-fifth grade.'

"Dad, where did you find this?" she asked looking up at her father.

"It was in a box at the back of your old closet," he said.

"Dad, this is amazing. Thank you," she said standing up and giving her dad a hug.

"You're welcome, Katie," he said. Kate laughed, now embarrassed, and wiped her eyes. They all collected their coats and purses, before heading for the front of the restaurant.

"Kate, it was very nice to meet you," Charlotte said giving Kate a one-armed hug.

"You too, Charlotte. Hopefully I'll see you again," Kate said.

"Yes, we should get together. I'll call you sometime."

"Ok, good. Bye dad," Kate called over her shoulder as she walked towards her car.

"Bye Katie. Be safe," Jim called.

"I will, bye," she slid down into the passenger seat, setting her purse at her feet.

As Castle and Beckett pulled out the parking lot, he took her hand. He pulled it up to his mouth and pressed his lips to it lightly.

"Did you like Charlotte?" Kate asked after a minute of silence passed between them.

"I liked her, she was a nice girl. Did you like her?"

"I don't know. I mean she's nice and friendly, and she makes my dad happy. Castle, I haven't seen him this happy in a long time."

"Not true," Castle rebutted. "He was this happy on our wedding day," he said smiling. "And I bet he was this happy when you told him you were pregnant," he said. Smartass.

"Should I be happy for him? I feel like if I am, it's like I'm betraying my mom or something."

"Kate, you are not betraying you mom. I bet she would want you and you dad to be happy. She's probably looking down on you both thinking 'finally. They have had enough hurt in their lives. It's time for them to be happy.' Do you like seeing your dad this happy?" he asked

"I love it. I just - don't know," she said looking at her lap. They grew quiet for a while until Kate began laughing quietly.

"What?" Rick asked.

"Just thinking about my mom; she would have loved seeing my dad at lunch just now. She always said he smile and his laugh was her favorite thing about him," Kate said smiling. Rick loved watching her go into her mind, to find the happy memories. Memories of a life before the hurt and bad things started.

"I'm sure she would have," Rick said. From the little knowledge he had about Johanna Beckett, he knew that Kate was almost the spitting image of her; looks, personality, everything about her said Johanna. He hoped one, if not more, of the babies would have this. He wanted their kids to have something of their grandmother, who he knew, loved them more than anything.

[] []

Kate stood in the doorway that separated their bedroom and Castle's office. She was wearing Ryan's NYPD shirt and a pair of Castle's boxers. Her hair was wet from having just taken a shower.

Castle sat at his desk, his feet propped up on the tabletop, the open scrapbook on his lap.

"What are you looking at?" Kate asked coming further into the room.

He looked up from the book and gave Kate a once over. How in the world was he blessed with such a beautiful wife?

"Oh just some old pictures," He said with a smirk. Kate stood behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

The book was open to a page of pictures from Kate's years in later elementary school.

"I didn't know you were in dance," he said leaning back into his chair.

"Yea I took six years of it. It was fun, but not really my thing," Kate said running a finger over the picture of her younger self in a black leotard with a multi-colored tulle skirt over it.

Rick continued to flip through the scrapbook, stopping when a picture caught his eyes. Kate's face turned red and hot. She tried to cover the picture, but it was too late.

She never wanted the picture to see the light of day. It was too embarrassing.

"Ok, you are done," she said pulling the scrapbook away from him. She turned and placed it on a shelf with the other photo albums.

"Oh come on, Kate, let me see" he whined like a little kid who just had his toys taken away.

"No, I'm cutting you off."

"But why? It's not like anyone besides us is going to see it."

Kate raised an eyebrow. In their friend group, there was no such thing as secrets and if this picture got out, Kate would be teased and ridiculed for the rest of her living days.

Castle pouted, jetting his lower lip out.

"Not gonna happen. That 'lost puppy' look won't work this time. I'm putting my foot down."

"Fine." Castle said. He wasn't happy, but when Kate 'put her foot down,' there was no changing her mind.

He stood and flipping off the light, they walked across the room to their bed. Castle slipping his phone out of his pocket and typing a quick text message to Alexis:

_Sleep tight pumpkin._

They flipped back the sheets and crawled in, the bed cold compared to their warm bodies.

Kate curled into Rick's body, his size dwarfing her and creating a nook perfectly formed for her body. She felt him kiss the crown of her head, and she smiled.

"Tell Alexis I say hi," she said, not turning over to know that Rick was on his cell phone, texting his eldest daughter.

"How did you know?" he asked

"Trained detective, Castle, I know things." She said yawning.

"More like Jedi powers," he said. Kate laughed.

"Jedi powers huh? That's the best you can come up with?"

"Hey, it's not like I had much time. I'm not good at improv," he said.

Kate smiled and rolled her eyes. Such a man-child.

"Good night Castle," she yawned.

"Good night."

The room grew quiet for a few minutes, before Castle's phone went off, very loudly.

He jumped at the sound and quickly shut it off. "Sorry," he whispered, trying to be quiet, not realizing what he had done. Kate was up; sleep the furthest thing from her mind, and it was all Castle's fault.

_Good night dad. Sleep tight. Love you._


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N- Well after school, dance and life getting in the way, I'm back. Honsetly I missed you guys! but I'm here now and thats all that matters. S****o to make up for my absence, i have THREE chapters for y'all today, so look forward to that. **

**This past week, I got a call. It was my aunt telling me to get out California as fast as I could. I caught a last minute filght and rushed to the hospital. My cousin Angela was there having her daughter. I found out when i got there, an hour after the baby was born, that I was chosen to be her godmother. I want to dedicate this chapter to my god-daughter, my little mija, Sophia Isabella. I love you SO much Mija.**

**Disclamor- not mine, i just borrow them at night sometimes**

* * *

October- fourteen weeks pregnant

Kate Beckett tapped her fingers on the granite countertop. She was growing impatient, and if the oven timer didn't go off soon, she was going to go crazy. Her stomach was rumbling at the smell of the double chocolate brownies baking. She had gotten a craving and needed the chocolate _now, _so what if it was two thirty in the morning, she had a craving and nothing was going to stop her.

Besides Castle was at one of his poker nights with his writing buddies, he would never know. Plus she would get to lick the bowl and spoon and not have to share.

She ran her finger around the side of the bowl, trying to get every last bit of the amazing brownie batter.

_Three_

_Two_

Finally, _finally, _the timer went off. Kate opened the hot oven, slid a pot holder over her hands and went to pick up the pan. She set it onto the stovetop, and slid off the pot holder. She reached into the cabinet over the stove and groped around for the box of toothpicks.

"Ha-ha, got you!" she exclaimed after finding the box in the very back of the cabinet. She slid one out and stuck it into the still hot brownies. She pulled it out and internally squealed that they were done and didn't need to bake anymore.

She grabbed a knife and cut a fairly large piece for herself. She didn't even reach for a plate, just dug right in.

She moaned; it was _so_ good. She wanted, no needed, the food. One of the cravings she had acquired while pregnant was that of chocolate, which was never a bad thing.

She took her midnight snack to the couch and wrapped herself in the blanket that always rested on the back of the couch. She sat back against the cushions and curled her feet under her

For a few moments she reveled in the immediate satisfaction the brownies gave her. Her stomach had stopped grumbling, which hopefully meant that she would be able to get back to sleep.

She took the last bite and pouted. _Great, now I want another_ she thought. She sighed and waged an internal battle with her mind. Finally she just decided to not get up, she was too comfortable.

Somehow the TV was turned on, and the remote was in her hand. She spent what felt like ten minutes, but was really an hour, mesmerized with the things being shown on the Home Shopping Network.

[] []

"Hey, Kate, time to get up," Castle's voice pulled her from the warmth of her blanket. She blinked his face into focus, and slowly sat up.

The small pout that crossed her face made Castle smile.

He had arrived home ten minutes ago to find a pan of brownies, with a large chunk missing, on the counter, and a sleeping Kate curled into a corner of the couch. He debated whether or not to wake her up, or just to let her sleep and carry her to bed like he did with Alexis when she was little; but considering Kate's current condition, picking her up probably wasn't a good idea.

Kate stood up and began walking to her room. She felt Castle's hand come to the small of her back. She remembered pulling back the blankets and laying down, but after that there was nothing in her memory.

Rick curled into his half asleep wife, forming his body to hers. He rubbed small circles into her shoulder and waited for her breathing to even out. He fell asleep still curled against Kate, seeking her weight and presence.

[] []

Sunlight fell through the open curtains, finally breaking through the heavy layer of clouds that had covered Manhattan for the better part of the week. Rick Castle rolled over, feeling the sheets for his muse. Nothing. He sat up, opening his eyes, but closed them again when his head began to pound, and the room began to spin. He fell back against the pillows, taking one of Kate's to cover his eyes.

"Looks liked someone partied a little too hard last night, huh?" Kate's voice reached his ears through the fog of his mind.

"Ugh," he moaned. "I hate this," he said his voice muffled through the pillow.

"Sorry, you put all of this upon yourself, I can't help you bud," she said, sarcasm radiating from her voice.

"Ugh!" Castle was miserable and Kate was laughing it up.

She slapped his leg telling him, despite his monster hangover, that it was time to get up.

In the time it took Richard Castle to get up and dressed, Kate could have written a novel and starred in a Broadway musical, but finally he was ready.

They grabbed coats and keys before closing the door behind them and heading out into the cold New York morning.

[] []

Paperwork was boring, everyone in the Homicide Division at the Twelfth Precinct could agree on that. Three hours and not even halfway through the giant stack that sat on their desks after rapping up a very difficult case.

The group decided to work together. They took over the large table in a spare room and spread out their papers.

Javier Esposito reached into the full bowl on M&M's that sat next to his partner. He yelped when his hand was slapped, the candy dropped into the bowl.

"Come on Beckett, you've had like four bowls today," Javi exaggerated.

Kate looked up at him and scowled, already annoyed that she had filled out the form she was working on with the wrong information, resulting in her having to re-do the entire thing. On top of all of that, she was tired and had a headache.

She stood up, her hand automatically coming to the small of her back to relieve some of the pressure, and turned towards the bathroom. She did her business and slowly made her way back to her boys, but stopped when she reached the door to the dark, quiet break room. She went in and closed the door, seeking a moment of silence.

[] []

Ryan took both his and Javi's coffee cups into the break room for a re-fill, but stopped short when he saw Beckett lying on her side on the couch, asleep. He backed out slowly, silently closing the door behind him.

"Hey, you have my coffee?" Javier asked his partner. He looked up to see Ryan shaking his head.

"I couldn't go in there," Ryan said sitting down.

"Why not? It's not like the thing will come to life and eat you or something," Javier said laughing at his attempt at a joke.

"Beckett's asleep, and I didn't want to wake her up," Ryan said, the lines in his forehead smoothing out.

Esposito nodded. He knew Beckett hadn't been sleeping well lately, and he thought waking her up at god-awful hours in the morning to come to a crime scene didn't help the cause much. His expression softened, and he reached over to Beckett's side of the table and took her pile of papers.

"Let her sleep," he said clicking his pen and looking back down at the papers.

[] []

Kate's eyes opened abruptly, quickly adjusting to the darkness of the room. She had fallen asleep. At work. She swung her legs onto the ground and stood up, cringing at the 'pins and needles' feeling her legs got as they woke up from not moving for so long.

She opened the door and walked back to where he boys were diligently working away.

"Thanks for waking me up guys," she said smacking both boys on the back of their heads.

"We knew how you haven't been sleeping, so when we say you finally asleep, we left you alone," Esposito said, his voice low and soft, calming, trying to calm his little sister down.

"Thanks," she said looking down, not meeting Esposito's eyes.

Truth be told, it was one of the best sleeps she had had in the past month. It was something she needed and thanked god her horrible heartburn had calmed down enough to let her sleep for a little while.

"How long was I out?" she asked, re-placing her papers into neat piles.

"About an hour," Ryan said, signing his name to finish off his part of the paperwork.

"Anything left?" Beckett asked, ready to help out.

The boys handed one of the last few papers, and watched as Becket went into her zone, finishing the work, taking control.

[] []

Richard Castle returned to his team, a bag full of Remy's burgers and fries in his hot little hands. He found the three cops in the same place he left them: hunched over piles of paperwork.

"Hey, how's it going?" he asked setting the bag onto the tabletop.

"We're almost done. Got more work done with you gone then when you were here," Kate said sarcastically.

"Hey, I was sent to get us lunch. I would have stayed if you needed me too."

Of course Castle's only contribution to the case was one of his crazy theories that actually weren't as crazy as the rest of his team thought, and was the break in the case that they needed.

"Is that my food?" Kate asked, looking up at the filled take-out bag, hunger crossing her face.

She reached for the bag, but recoiled when her hand was slapped away.

She pouted.

"Not until you finish your work," Castle said, using his 'father voice.'

Kate quickly signed her name, the only thing left on the final paper.

"There, done," she stuck her tongue out at her husband before tearing into the bag. She pulled out her burger and one of the bags of fries.

The boys followed suit and soon the room was silent, everyone too busy stuffing their faces to talk. Their meal was interrupted when a brown haired little creature ran into the room, squealing and laughing.

Ryan set his half-finished burger down and wiped off his hands before scooping his daughter into his arms. His smile grew ten times its normal size as he tickled the girl, making her laugh even harder.

The rest of the team looked on and smiled. They loved seeing this side of Ryan; the funny, loving, fatherly side of him that rarely showed its head at work. He kissed his daughters cheek once she had stopped laughing. She took a French fry off her dad's plate and began eating happily.

Ryan turned and saw his wife.

"Hey babe," he said. She came over and kissed him lightly, ruffling their daughter's hair. Jenny waved hi to the rest of the room and got smiles, waves and 'hellos' from her friends. She pulled up a chair and, like her daughter, stole fries off her husband's plate.

Grace made her way from person to person getting hugs and kisses from all of her pseudo aunt and uncles.

Kate was going to miss this. Her time at the precinct was limited, and she was trying to make every moment count.

They hung out, talking and eating for a little while longer. It wasn't until Grace started falling asleep in Esposito's lap that they realized how late it was.

There were hugs and whispered good bye's as they gathered their things and left for their cars.

"Bye Gracie!" Kate called to the sleepy toddler. She got a half smile and a small wave before the girl was put into the car and buckled into her seat.

Castle and Beckett waved as they watched their friends pull out of the parking garage towards home, before getting into their own car. They turned the heat up as high as it would go to drown out the early fall chill.

"Today was fun," Kate sighed.

"Yes, it was," Castle said taking Kate's hand and falling into a comfortable silence.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N- Here is the next chapter, and I will admit, I uploaded the chapters out of order, so those of you who read the chapter before this, read this one first and then re-red the next one, it will make more sence. I'm so sorry, please don't hate me. Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

October- 15 weeks pregnant

The slow rain falling outside perfectly matched the gloomy demeanor inside. The homicide floor of the twelfth precinct was lacking its usual fun and happy spirit. They were losing one of the best cops in their group.

"Guys, I'm going on maternity leave, I will be back next fall," Kate Beckett said for what felt to her like the fiftieth time that day to her two partners.

They had been whining all day. It was annoying, but cute. The three had grown into a family, and they were all sad that Kate was leaving.

She put the last of her belongings into the cardboard box sitting in her chair before placing the box at her feet and sitting down. Her desk looked bare without the pictures, drawings, and her favorite elephants, it looked simple, boring, not Kate Beckett; at least not who she is now, maybe it would have represented her five years ago, but not now.

She reached into the back of the bottom drawer, into her secret candy stash. She tossed a mini candy bar to her boys, hitting Ryan in the face because he wasn't paying attention.

Both Kate and Esposito laughed as Ryan's face turned bright red.

"Oh god, I'm going to miss this," Kate said sying, her voice and facial expressions slipping quickly from happy to sad.

The clock changed from four-fifty nine to five o'clock. No one moved. They didn't want the clock to change, for the afternoon to carry on. It meant the day was ending and Beckett was leaving them for nearly a year.

Finally the silence in the room was ended when captain Gates opened her office door. The tough-as-nails captain walked up to the trio of desks: Kate, Esposito in the middle and Ryan at the end; the way it had always been.

"Detective Beckett," Gates began, ignoring the audible sighs of relief form Ryan and Esposito. "On behalf of the entire homicide division, I wish you congratulations and hope you return very quickly," she said holding out a filled envelope.

"Thank you sir," Kate replied courtly, taking the envelope and slipping it into her bag.

"I'll keep you and your family in my prayers," Gates said smiling. She hadn't been the biggest supporter of Rick and Kate trying to have a family in the beginning, but as the pregnancy carried on and it became the talk of the floor, she finally jumped on board and grew as, if not more, excited as the rest of the cops in the room.

Kate smiled and nodded. Gates smiled and returned to her office, closing the doors behind her. Se loked down at her phone and her expression fell again.

"Alright guys, I gotta go," Kate said slinging her bag over she shoulder and grabbing the box by its handles. She accepted the one armed hugs from her partners and blinked away the tears that had formed in her eyes. "Hey, I'm going to see you next week. Besides it's not like I won't be around," Kate said smiling.

The boys smiled and nodded. They were over-reacting. They would be seeing Kate next week at Castle's annual Halloween party and she was only a text or phone call away.

Kate smiled and walked towards the elevators. Ryan and Esposito waved one last time at their partner before the doors closed and Beckett was gone.

She hadn't been gone for more than ten minutes before Ryan got a text message. From Beckett. He read it out loud with Esposito looking over his shoulder

_Don't even think about stealing from my candy stash. I will hunt you down and hurt you._

They both laughed and rolled their eyes. Beckett knew them so well.

[] []

Kate was thankful she had found a spot in the parking garage of her building; she really didn't want to have to walk in the rain. She closed the car door with her hip, as her hands were full, and continued on towards home. The elevator seemed to take twice as long, but it finally opened up on her floor. She walked down the hall, passing by the open door to the little family who had moved in last week: two young parents and their three month old son. Kate stopped at her door and reached into her pocket, hoping to find her key. It wasn't there.

The perfect day to forget her key at home. She knocked on the door hoping to god that someone was there to let her in. she stood there for a minute when she heard shoed on hardwood floors.

The door swung open and Kate walked inside. She set her purse onto the table by the door and slipped off her shoes.

She looked up and smiled at the face she met. Bright blue eyes, cute nose and cheeks covered in flour. She kissed his lips lightly, swiping off the flour.

"What are you making?" she asked moving towards to kitchen and finding a seat at the breakfast bar.

"Pizza," he said returning back to his flour covered counter. "All my meetings were hell today, so I needed something to perk me up," he said rolling out another ball of dough into a near perfect circle.

"I'm sorry," she said.

He hummed his response, not looking up from his project.

He had been under his editor's watchful eye for the past month and a half when his edits for the newest Nikki Heat novel, _Unseen Heat_, were late. He had been dreading going to meetings with his publishing company today. He was tired of getting yelled at. He just wanted to get the book into the publisher and be done for the next three months.

"Let's just drop it," he said shortly. Kate wanted to say something, try and make him feel better. But she knew better than to say anything while he was this upset.

"Anything I can do to help?" Kate asked perking up.

"There's a block of cheese in the fridge, it would be great if you could grate it for me," he said tossing the flattened out dough into the air. Show off.

Kate found the cheese and the grater and returned to her spot. They sat in relative silence doing their various jobs.

"Okay, let me see," Castle said coming over to the counter. Kate lifted the grater and showed Castle the pile of cheese she had made.

"Need more?" she asked meeting his eyes.

He shook his head. "No that looks good," he said. He took the plate the cheese was on and moved to the counter.

As Castle walked away, Kate caught his arm. She kissed him hard, making sure he knew how much she loved him. They broke apart and she rested her forehead on his. They didn't speak; just let the kiss say all of the words they couldn't.

[] []

"I have to say Castle, you done good on this pizza," Kate said smiling. They were curled up, as close as they could get, on the couch, plates of pizza on their laps.

Castle smiled and let Kate's comment get to his ego for a minute.

"Thank you," he said.

Kate rolled her eyes, he was so smug sometimes.

"How was your last day?" he asked.

"It was good. I'm going to miss it," she finished.

Being a police officer was her job, it had been her entire life. She was going to miss the thrill it gave her to chase down the criminal, to bring him justice. But she knew, somewhere deep down inside, that going on maternity leave early would prevent further risks to her pregnancy. She had been as careful as she could during the early months of her pregnancy, but she knew because of how high a risk her pregnancy was, things could happen, bad things, even when she was careful.

"Can you get me another piece?" she asked Castle. He nodded and turned towards the kitchen.

"I must really love you," he called to Kate. "This is the last piece."

"Well your kids and I appreciate your sacrifice," She laughed.

Two pizza's later, the couple was fading fast. Both of them had a long day-both physically and emotionally. She leaned her head onto his shoulder and sighed. Her stomach was full; it was bedtime.

Rick listened to her breathing even out. He slipped the empty plate from her hands and set in on the end table closest to him.

He put his hand onto Kate's stomach and started drawing patterns, his mind going in a hundred different directions.

He felt the knot in his stomach loosen for the first time in the past four months. Kate was done with work and on maternity leave. She would be safe and out of harm's way.

Then it hit him, like a strike of lightening. The best idea he'd had since the original development of Nikki Heat.

He reached over and grabbed the notebook and pen her always kept next to the couch. He scribbled down his idea and closed his notebook.

He spread a blanket over the both of them and fell silent, going back to rubbing Beckett's stomach. Sleep not far behind.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N- Here is the next chapter for you guys. Hopefully this will make up for the weeks that i didn't post :) yes this is a re-post, i uploaded the chapers out of order, I'm sorry. **

**Enjoy!**

**Disclamor- not mine. they are all property of AWM**

* * *

October- sixteen weeks pregnant

October Thirty First, All Hallows Eve, final preparations were being made for the annual Castle Halloween party. Guests were due to arrive any minute.

Richard castle knew he had to make the most of the party, as this would be his last without having little kids running around. He had picked out the best, in his opinion, costume and was very excited to show it off.

Kate was still getting over the cold she had caught two days ago, so she would only be at the party for a little while. Not that she wanted to go anyway. Al the people there would be in costumes. She would be the only one without one, which made her feel left out.

So she settled for the next best thing. She found an orange shirt that would fit over her stomach, and black sweat pants. She pulled her hair into pigtails and tied them with pumpkin printed hair bows. The last part of her outfit, which she was struggling to get on, was orange and black stripped socks.

She slipped the sock over her foot and sat back against her pillows. These days even the simple task of putting on socks was enough to wear her out. She slowly breathed in and out, and ran her hands over her stomach where she felt it again. A tiny flutter, like a butterfly trapped under the skin of her belly.

"Castle! Castle, come here," she called out to her husband. He appeared in the doorway between the office and the bedroom.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking slightly worried.

Kate didn't say anything, just held out her hand and smiled. Rick stepped forward and took her extended hand. He raised an eyebrow in question. She rolled her eyes and smiled again. She placed his hand under her shirt, to a spot right above her belly button.

The room grew silent for a minute, Kate waited. Suddenly Castle gasped and his face lit up. He had felt it too.

"Oh wow," he said moving his hand over her belly, trying to find one of the other babies kicking.

"I know right." His smile spoke more than a thousand words.

This was only the second time Kate had felt the babies kicking. The first was while she was at work and she didn't tell anyone. She didn't say anything because she wasn't sure herself if what she was feeling was really a baby kicking or something else. But careful examination from Lanie during a lunchtime visit to the morgue determined that it was the little human moving around and kicking its little feet.

A proud moment first shared by best friends and now shared by the parents of these little humans.

[] []

By sunset no one had shown up yet. The only people there were Castle, Beckett, Alexis and Martha.

Alexis had chosen to be a 1920's flapper, as her boyfriend of almost five years, Max, was coming to the party as a gangster from the same era. Martha had donned her Wicked Witch of the West dress, complete with green face makeup. She was attending another Halloween party with her theater friends, and needed to find a costume suitable for both parties.

Richard Castle's 'genius' Halloween costume was a self-made _Halo_ outfit. Writer-boy loved the game, had all of the games in the series, and played it constantly. The costume was full body armor, an old paintball facemask and a fake machine gun, which was permanently attached to his side. The costume was worthy of first place at any Con masquerade, which was proven true at last month's New York Comic Con. The costume was very elaborate and well crafted; more for show than actual use and purpose. It was hot and restricted movement and despite being covered in sweat, Castle refused to take it off until everyone attending the party saw it.

The doorbell rang, and Kate got up to answer it. She assumed it was another rush of trick-or-treaters that had been coming to the door for the past two hours. She opened it, candy bowl in hand, and was surprised to see not little kids, but her partner, and friend, Kevin Ryan.

Kate smiled, set the bowl on the table just inside the door and pulled her friend in for a hug.

"Hey," Kate smiled, motioning for her friend to come inside. "Where's Jenny? I thought she was coming."

"Well she was until our sitter canceled on us, Jen had to stay home with Grace," Ryan said slipping off his coat to reveal his Count Dracula costume complete with fake fangs.

"She didn't have to do that. Grace is more than welcome to come. Call her. Tell her to get over here," Kate ordered.

Ryan smiled at his friend and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed his home phone number and waited as it rang. "Hey, Jen," He began after Jenny answered. "Beckett said you and Gracie are more than welcome to come to the party," he listened to her reply and nodded, murmuring affirmatives every once-in-a-while. "Ok, great. See you in a few," he ended the call and slipped his phone into his jacket pocket. "She's going to pack a few things for Grace and head over," he told Beckett. She smiled; she loved seeing Jenny, Ryan and Grace together. They were so cute. Ryan's whole demeanor changed when his wife and daughter were around; Kate couldn't wait until it was her who lit up every time her kids came into the precinct.

She led Ryan over to the bar and got him a drink.

"Castle?" Ryan asked looking at the masked form that was his friend.

"Hey Ryan, how's it goin'?" Castle asked, his voice muffled by the mask over his face.

"It's going good," Ryan's was slightly scared, amazed and impressed all at the same time. How in the hell did Castle manage to make something like that when he worked hard just to figure out his costume for the party.

By the time Jenny and Grace got to the loft, the party was in full swing. Drinks were flowing and people were having a grand old time.

Jenny took both her and Grace's coats, and set them, along with her bag, inside the coat closet. She hoisted the girl onto her hip and set off in search of her husband.

"Daddy!" Grace squealed upon seeing her father. She wriggled trying to get down from her mom's arms. Jenny set the girl down and watched as she raced to her dad. Ryan scooped her up and lifted her above his head, laughing the whole way.

Ryan set the girl on his hip and expertly caught the antenna to her ladybug costume that had fallen from her head. He placed the antenna back on and kissed the girl's cheek.

"Daddy, I got candy!" Grace said happily.

"You did?" Ryan asked

Grace nodded and smiled. "I got this many," she said holding her arms out as far as they would go. Ryan smiled. It was Grace's first Halloween where she knew what was going on; it was all so magical to the little girl.

Soon the little ladybug girl was being passed from person to person, each one giving her a piece or two of candy. She loved all of the attention, everyone's eyes were on her.

"The way this is going, she won't sleep at all tonight," Jenny complained from her spot on the couch with Kate and Lanie. She watched Grace dance around their little circle of chairs to the music that was being played. She stopped and let out a big yawn, and rubbed at her eyes.

"I wouldn't speak so soon. Looks like someone's coming down from their sugar high," Lanie sad opening her arms to Grace. The girl shook her head and ran to her mom who scooped the girl up and cuddled her against her chest.

"We should probably go, it's getting late," Jenny said standing, looking around for her husband.

"You don't have to leave," Kate said standing. "We can set Grace up in our room and you can hang out here for a little while longer." Kate smiled.

Jenny nodded and set off to find her daughter's bag. They returned, bag in hand, and followed Kate into the quieter master bedroom. Jenny changed Grace out of her costume; the antienna had been shed an hour ago, and into pajamas. Kate found the cartoons on TV and smiled down at the sleepy girl cuddled into her mommy's arms. Kate turned and left, leaving the mother and daughter alone for a few minutes.

"Hey," Rick said catching Kate's arm as she came out of the room. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, Grace is about to fall asleep, so I told Jenny she could lay her down in our room." Kate said filling Castle in on the events he had missed.

"Well we're about to start Guitar Hero if you wanna play with us," Castle said smiling, the twelve year old in him rearing its head. Kate rolled her eyes, but followed him anyway. She loved playing the game and watching her friends, especially the boys, get all competitive was very funny.

Somehow in the two minutes Castle had left the group, they had broken up into teams: girls versus boys. They would take turns and whoever got the highest score on the song would get to stay up until they lost.

"So, same rules?" Castle asked putting the guitar strap over his head.

"Yup, looser has to take a shot," Esposito says from his seat next to Lanie.

The game went on for well over three hours, each team trading insults and hazing their opponents. They all knew it was in good fun, and not meant to be mean. They were all singing at the top of their lungs to the songs they knew, and according to the rules, the looser had to take a shot, so after each song they took a minute form the looser to fulfill his or her punishment.

Around two in the morning, everyone was leaving. Alexis and Max were the first to leave they wanted to spend the rest of the night with their friends. Rick sent them off with a reminder to stay safe and to call him if something happened. Ryan and Jenny and a sleeping Grace left soon after, Jenny offering to drive them home as Ryan was a little on the drunk side. Lanie and Javier stayed and helped their friends clean up, but left once the job was done.

Castle and Beckett fell into bed at three in the morning. Both of them exhausted. The party was fun, Kate missed her friends and was glad they had shown up.

"Are you okay?" Rick asked as they were winding down.

"I'm tired and my back's a bit sore, but I'm alright. I didn't do anything to hurt myself. I know I stayed longer than I originally planned but I'm glad I did. We should do this more often," she finished cuddling into Rick's side.

He kissed her temple and smiled. "We can do it whenever you want." She didn't hear him; sleep had taken a hold of her mind and body.

He touched Kate's stomach and felt the flutter again.

"Did you guys have fun at the party?" he asked into Kate's belly. He felt the babies move again and took that as a yes. "Good, I'm glad. Go to sleep now, we can play again in the morning." He turned over and closed his eyes.

"Very creepy Castle," he heard Kate whispered.

"What's creepy?" he asked.

"You were talking to my stomach. It's weird," she said.

"But you like it," he smiled.

She rolled her eyes. It was creepy, but cute. In a Castle sort of way.

"I thought you were asleep," he said rolling over to see her eyes in the dark.

"I was pretending. I heard what you said. It was really sweet," she said taking his hand.

"I meant it. I can't wait until I can hold them and play with them. I'm excited."

They both were, but what they didn't know was that this was the calm before their storm started.

* * *

**A/N 2- So, what did you think? Alos, in the next chapter we find out the sex of the babies. the pool is now open and i'm taking bets, so state your predictions before next Friday.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N- Hey guys! I've missed you! wow it's been a while since i last talked to y'all. let me tell you, this chapter is not my best work. The muse and have been having issues these past couple of weeks, so blame her. Anyway, hopw you like it. And now, drumroll please, the winner of our un-official, official baby pool is...** Conservativegirl **who got the numbers right, just reversed who they belong too. So congrats to you!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

November- seventeen weeks pregnant

Even through her gloves, Kate Beckett still felt the freezing early November wind. She was supposed to be out on her daily walk, but after taking two steps outside and feeling the cold, she turned tail and went right back to her nice warm husband. . . I mean bed.

The door clicked shut, and Castle looked up from his paper to see his pregnant wife shedding her coat.

"Hey, that was fast," he said wrapping his arm around her waist as she got closer to his perch on one of the bar stools.

"I never went. It was too cold," she said feeling his warm hands through her shirt.

Castle smiled and rolled his eyes. The tough as nails, lived through a gunshot to the heart, Kate Beckett couldn't even walk in the winter wind.

She quickly kisses his lips before turning for the shower, calling over her shoulder that they were leaving in an hour, weather he was ready or not.

He would be ready. He had been ready for the past four months. Today was the day they would find out the sex of their five babies.

There was a slight collision in the bathroom, when Rick tried to get by and start the shower, and Kate was standing in front of the sink brushing her teeth, but finally both of them were clean, dressed and ready to go with ten minutes to spare.

Castle was standing out in the living room checking his many beloved social media sites, when Kate came out of their room, her slippered feet sliding on the hardwood floor. For the past month and a half, they were the only shoes she could wear comfortably, her feet had swollen and it was just too hard to get other shoes on.

They both grabbed phones, coats, keys and wallets and headed out for their appointment.

[] []

"It's like they've never seen snow before. Move!" They were stuck in traffic. It had started snowing lightly, and every single person out on the roads was driving as slow as snails. "Finally!" Castle gasped as they crossed the intersection they had been sitting at for the past twenty minutes.

It they booked it, they would just make their appointment.

Kate could only roll her eyes. The sky had been threatening snow for the past week. People were like this every year during the first snow, it never changed. She stayed quiet, letting Castle have his moment. She looked out the window at the people walking down the street, bundled up against the wind, glad that she wasn't one of them.

They pulled into the parking garage, and, after thanking the man working the gate, Castle set off to find a spot. It seemed was though every person in lower Manhattan was at the same office building as Castle and Beckett were because the only spot Castle could find was as far from the door as you could get without being out on the street.

After a bit of a walk, they made it inside, grateful for the warmth.

[] []

There he was, in all his glory; a fuzzy black and white picture on a computer screen.

Castle and Beckett had found calling all five of the babies 'he' was easiest, until they found out what they were. So up until today, all five of them were boys, no matter if they weren't.

He was perfect: ten fingers, ten toes. The first to be shown, baby A. When the nurse found him on the ultrasound, he was in the middle of a forward roll, and as he turned, in front of God and everyone, they could see plain as day that 'he' was a 'she.' It's a girl.

"She's already like her dad," Kate says smiling at her daughter's picture on the screen, "Likes to do things in a big way."

Castle laughed, he was very happy, grinning from ear to ear, and they had just started.

Next came the twins, identical twins. Castle and Beckett didn't care what they were so long as they were both healthy.

The nurse moved the probe over Kate's belly trying to get a better look.

"These guys are making my job difficult," she joked.

"Come on guys; work with us for a minute here, will you?" Castle asked looking at the picture of the two babies.

"There we go," the nurse said, finally settling the picture on one spot. The babies only stayed still for a fraction of a second, just long enough for both mom and dad to get a look before they were back to wiggling and kicking each other.

Kate turned her head to look at a now quiet Castle.

"Hey," she started, reaching out to touch his arm. "Are you alright?"

He smiled at her, tears in his eyes. He was more than alright. Things were perfect. He was with the woman of his dreams, had the best most perfect grown-up daughter a guy could ask for, and now he was having five more babies, all of whom, Castle was convinced, were going to be as perfect as their older sister.

"Yes I'm fine," he said smiling again and giving her hand a squeeze.

"Good," Kate said. She watched as they two babies moved around on the monitor, and she could feel them move, under her skin.

"Now are you sure that's what you saw?" Castle asked, making perfectly sure he had heard the nurse correctly.

"Yes I am positive," she said smiling.

"Ok good," His smiled was even bigger than it was before, if that was even possible. All three of the people in the room had seen and heard it correctly-the twins were boys.

It was easier to tell what the fourth baby was. They just looked for something between her legs and when they didn't see it, they knew she was a girl.

Baby E, the second smallest of the five (baby B was the smallest of them all), was hidden low in Kate's pelvis, curled into a ball and was sucking her thumb. After a minute of observation, it was determined that she was most definitely a girl.

They were all doing fine. Growing and maturing like they should be. All with the right amount of fingers and toes.

There wasn't much left to her appointment after the ultrasound. The doctor came in and checked Kate out, making sure she was growing with her babies, and that she was healthy.

"How does it feel to finally know what you're having?" Dr. Lee asked a still smiling Kate and Rick.

"It feels really good," Kate said. She didn't know what to say. She couldn't put into words what she was feeling. She had three daughters and two sons, all of whom were practically perfect in every way.

"Well everything seems good here. Keep doing everything you're doing-drinking lots of water, eating right, getting exercise. And dad," she said turning to Castle. "Make sure she doesn't get too crazy being cooped up inside all winter. And enjoy the rest of your pregnancy. Because before you know it, these babies will be here."

Castle and Beckett nodded and got up to leave. They made it to the door before Beckett stopped in her tracks.

"Have you texted Lanie and the boys yet?" she asked turning towards Castle.

His eyes bugged out and he quickly reached into his pocket for his phone. . .

[] []

Javier Esposito looked up from the pages and pages of phone records he had been looking at for the past hour. He reached for his ringing cell phone, typing in the code to unlock it and get to the new text message he had gotten.

"Yo Ryan!" he called to his partner, holding up his phone.

Ryan came over, excited to find out what Castle had said.

Castle and Beckett had promised to either text or call the boys once they knew what the babies were.

Javi opened the text message, as Ryan read over his shoulder.

_Three girls, two boys. All doing fine. Kate says hi and wants her money ASAP_

"Damn it!" Ryan said, pulling out his wallet. He had bet a lot of money in the baby pool, and lost all of it. He was sure there was going to be more boys than girls.

Esposito was happy. He hadn't lost _all_ of the money he had bet, just a chunk of it.

[] []

The next night during dinner at the Castle house, the money was divided up between the winners. Esposito and Lanie had tied for first with the most correct guesses-three out of the five.

"So now that you know, it will make picking their names easier right?" Lanie asked, taking a sip of her glass of wine.

Kate just shrugged. "Not really. We can't agree on any of the names so far," she confessed.

"Oh I remember that," Jenny said smiling. "Kevin and I fought for months over Grace's name."

"How did you finally pick?" Kate asked, really curious as to how her friend's baby name debate was ended.

"I picked it," Ryan said, with a slight cocky edge to his voice. "the nurses needed a name for her, and we couldn't decide, so I closed my eyes and pointed at a name on our list, and the rest as they say, is history," Jenny rolled her eyes, clearly not remembering that side of the story.

"Right after she was born and the doctor put her on my chest, I looked at her face and her name came to me. It was perfect," Jenny said, giving the _right_ side of the story. She got a little emotional, remembering the day her daughter was born.

Now Kate was scared. She knew she couldn't have her babies like her mom or friends did, and she also knew that most likely they would be born early. She needed to decide on all of their names before they were born. She needed to know that at least that item was crossed off her list, just in case something were to happen.

"What do you think Beckett?" Esposito asked.

Kate looked at her friend, pulled back into the real world by her friends voice.

"What?" she asked.

"I was just saying, wouldn't Javier Junior be a perfect name for one of the baby boys?" he said re-stating his question.

"In you strange and twisted dreams," Kate said laughing, smacking Javier on his arm.

Everyone laughed, and continued talking, and passing around baby name ideas. Kate joined in, laughing and enjoying time with her family.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N- i'm back. school and other things got in the way, like having the muse run away from me halfway through writing this chapter -_- I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, it was something different. **

**This chapter is dedicated to Amanda, Roxy, Anne, Sam, and 'Cona' because they had to listen to my whine every day durring break.**

**Disclamor: anyone you recognize are not mine**

***Re-upload- someone pointed out one really big mistake that i made. fixed it and now everything is all beter.***

* * *

November- Eighteen weeks pregnant

Three sharp knocks break the early morning silence in the Castle home. Both Rick and Kate were fast asleep, tangled together, under the covers. Kate stirred first, awake, but not wanting to open her eyes and move from her warm cocoon.

"Rick Castle open this door!" There were only three people who would dare to come to Richard Castle's house at seven thirty in the morning on a Monday, and one of those three had taken Alexis to some secluded spa in the rainforest for the past week and a half as a 'sorry I missed your birthday again' pity gift.

There were three more knocks, before the person on the other side picked up her phone and called her client.

Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven' blasting from his phone was the first thing Rick Castle heard when he woke up. He bolted upright and grabbed his phone from his bedside table, a note application open for his middle of the night bursts of inspiration.

He pushed the answer button, and held the phone at arm's length when the voice at the other end screamed into his ear.

"Finally! I have been standing outside for the past half hour. Get up you're late!" even at arm's length he could still hear the voice perfectly clearly.

"Oh shit!" Rick said. He jumped out of bed and rushed around trying to get ready fast.

"Where are you going?" Kate mumbled, her eyes still not opened.

"I had that interview for the new Nikki Heat movie this morning, and I'm late," he said hobbling around, one foot inside his jeans. He pulled them up, and stuffed his wallet into the back pocket. He kissed his wife's head, and left, a fleeting "See you later," called over his shoulder.

He turned the lock, and opened the door to see the face of his long finger nailed, fake eye-lashed agent. He hung up their call, and locked his phone.

"You couldn't have put something decent on?" Paula asked, still annoyed.

"I didn't have time, you were yelling at me!" Castle said, defending himself for his wardrobe. It looked nice to him: a button down shirt and nice jeans.

"Well we don't have time for you to change, that will have to do. Come on we're late!" Paula called, already halfway to the elevator. Out of nowhere, a little girl, in a church dress, came skipping out of her apartment, and ran headfirst into Paula's arm, knocking the coffee out of her hands and onto the floor.

"Oh my god! Look what you did you little brat!" Paula yelled at the kid, watching the coffee drip slowly down her arm and onto the floor. The girl started to cry, standing right there in the middle of the hallway.

Castle came to the rescue, scooping the girl into his arms, trying to stop her crying.

"Livvy, it's ok," he said quietly. "You're not in trouble. It was only an accident." The girl, Olivia, looked up at her neighbor, tears still falling down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean too," she said, wiping her nose on her wrist.

"I know you are," he said setting her back down on the ground.

"I'm sorry," she said, smiling at Paula, who was still pissed.

Paula mumbled something very bad under her breath before taking a calming breath.

"Look just watch where you're going next time alright?" she snapped. Olivia took a few steps back, scared.

Luckily, just then her parents came out of their apartment and found the group standing in the hallway.

"What happened?" Olivia's dad, Justin, asked.

"Olivia wasn't paying attention to where she was going and ran into my agent, Paula," Castle said, as if it were no big deal.

"Oh, ok. Livvy, did you say sorry?" Justin asked, looking down at his daughter. She nodded, her cheeks and eyes still red from crying. "Alright, let's go, we're late. Bye Rick," Justin said taking the girls hand and following her mom and younger brother.

"See you guys later. Bye Livvy, bye Ethan!" he called to the two little kids, who turned and gave him two identical smiles.

The elevator doors closed after the family, and Rick spun on his heels to look at his agent.

"What the hell Paula! You can't yell at a little kid! She didn't know better!" he snapped, pushing the button to call another elevator car.

"Well she should watch where's she's going!" she snapped right back.

Castle exhaled loudly and ran his hands through his hair, trying not to yell at his agent. The elevator came and they rode downstairs, talking as though their little altercation in the hallway never happened.

[] []

"Did you read the questions I e-mailed to you?" Paula asked Castle once they were in the car on the way to the television studio.

Castle was silent.

"I'll take that as a 'no'," Paula said, pulling up the list of questions on her Blackberry. "Here, read," she said handing her client the phone.

He reads in silence for a moment, until he gets to one question in particular. He quickly pulls out his phone and texts Kate.

_What do you want me to say if they ask about the babies?_

_Tell them the truth,_ she replies, _it's what they want. But Castle, don't make a big deal about it. I don't want all of this to get blown out of proportion._

He smiled. He sometimes forgets that Kate is a very private person and hates for her business to be shown all over the world.

_I'll try my best. Love you._

_Love you too._ He sees her last reply, just as they pull into the studio's parking lot. He locks his phone and slips it back into his pocket. A baby faced assistant meets them at the door and Castle smiles at the girl who couldn't be more than a few month older than Alexis.

"Hi Mr. Castle, I'm Leslie, I'll be taking care of you today," she holds out her hand, which Castle shakes.

"It's nice to meet you," he replies.

"Well if you come this way, I'll take you upstairs," Leslie says turning back inside.

"Can I get you some coffee or something to eat?" she asks over her shoulder once they are upstairs and walking down a long hallway.

"A cup of coffee would be nice, thanks," Castle says following the girl into the studio's green room.

Leslie smiles and nods, "I'll go get that for you then," she says. She turns, and, closing the door behind her, leaves Castle and Paula alone. She returns a minute later, coffee in her hands but leaves just after to work on other things.

Soon people start coming into the room. A sound guy comes in to put a microphone onto Castle, someone from their make-up department coms in to make sure Castle looks good for the cameras. Finally, exactly twenty minutes after they arrived, Leslie comes back and tells his they are ready to start their interview.

[] []

_Two days later_

"Castle hurry, it's on!" Kate calls from the bedroom, where she is propped up against her pillows. Castle comes trotting into the room, two cups of fresh, hot coffee in his hands. He hands one to Kate (even the doctor said a little bit of coffee couldn't hurt the babies) and sinks down onto the bed.

"Turn it up," he directs Kate who has control of the remote. She does and soon the sounds of the interview he had filmed a few days prior fill the room.

"_Here with us is Richard Castle, author of the critically acclaimed _Nikki Heat _series of books, and now movies. Rickard Castle, thanks for joining us," _the interviewer, a man named Isaac, says as he shakes Castle's hand.

"_Thanks for having me,"_ Castle says, putting on the charm he is famous for.

"_Now you based these books off of your wife NYPD homicide detective Kate Beckett, right?"_

"_Yes I did. I started following her after our first case together."_

"_And what exactly was that?"_ Isaac asks, as if he didn't already know and wasn't reading from the notes in front of him.

"_Well this guy was murdering people in the style of some of my books. I was brought onto the case as a consultant, because they were my books, he was basing the murders after, and I haven't left since,"_ he laughs and smiles.

"_And now they are being made into movies,"_ the interviewer says, setting up the next topic.

"_Yes they are. The first one did pretty well so the studio decided to keep going."_

The interview went on like that for a few more minutes. Castle was doing great; he looked really good on camera.

"_Let's go back to your wife for a minute, can we?" Isaac asked._

_Castle straitened in his chair, and smiled. "Ok sure," he said, ready for whatever came his way._

"_We learned a few months ago that she was expecting your first child. Is there any updates you can give up?"_

"_Actually I was giving the go ahead today to reveal a secret we have been keeping for a few months." Castle began, making sure he was in control. The interviewer leaned forward in his chair, obviously excited to hear the news. ."Kate and I are expecting quintuplets. We have known for four almost five months now, but haven't been ready to tell anyone outside of our family. Three girls and two boys, all of whom, as of right now, are doing just fine."_

Everyone on that interview set was speechless. They were not expecting it. Finally the producer behind the camera looked at the time, and signaled for the interviewer to wrap it up.

"_Well that was certainly some news. Richard Castle, thank you," he said shaking Castle's hand. "And remember, _Heat Rises, _the third Nikki Heat movie, is out this spring," he finished the interview, and that was it._

Castle just died laughing. It was just as awkward on the day, as it came off on camera.

"See, it wasn't that bad," Castle said rolling over to look at Kate.

"Oh just you wait," she said. And as if on cue, both of their phones began to ring and got off with text messages and tweets and Facebook messages. "Told you," Kate said smugly, typing the code into her phone. Kate answered a text message from Lanie who was freaking out after seeing the interview on TV.

Castle, on the other hand, was dealing with his 1.5 million Twitter followers, most of whom had nothing but positive things to say about the interview and the news Castle had just shared with the world. He tried as hard as he could to ignore the negative things that were being said towards him and Kate, things like: 'you did this to yourself,' 'it's all for the media,' 'they were just doing this to get attention.' All he had to do was click once and they would be gone, but he just couldn't do it. He had to fight back, had to stand up for himself and his family. Of course going on a long winded rant was had to do when you were limited to 140 characters, but somehow he got his point across.

He tweeted saying that only positive comments were permitted and that any negativity would be deleted. He wanted his fans to know how much he loved hearing how excited they were for him and Kate and that he hoped that they would pass on some of their positivity to the haters.

"Lanie says she's glad we finally told everyone about the babies, and already people at her church are organizing diaper drives and clothing donations and people to come help us if we want it," Kate says after her forty-five minute long conversation with her best friend ended

"Do we really want all of this?" Castle asked.

"What do you mean? These people are trying to help us, isn't that a good thing?"

"Of course it's a good thing," Castle said, harsher than he intended.

"Ok, so why are you so upset?" Kate asked, still confused.

"Kate we don't even know any of these people. You're willing to let perfect strangers into our house?" he asked, meeting her eyes.

"Castle," she said putting her hand on his arm. "They are just trying to help. You of all people show know that asking for help, even when you think you don't need it, can be a good thing."

"I know," He says, trying to find the right words to communicate the thoughts running through his head. "It's just I don't want people to think that I need help, that I can't afford to feed and clothe my kids."

"Castle, there is going to be people who say that, but you and I both know that it is not true," Kate said, emphasizing her last four words by poking Castle in the chest, over his heart.

"I raised Alexis by myself, her mom wasn't exactly the motherly type. I did everything-getting up in the middle of the night, making sure she had clothes and diapers, scaring away the monsters from under her bed- I don't want people to think that because I have five babies, that I won't do as good a job with them as I did with Alexis"

"And you think that because you ask for help, that makes you a bad father? Castle that's crazy! Even parents who are not in our situation ask for help. It does not make you a bad father. It just shows that you want the best for your child and you are willing to give up some of your independence and pride to give them the best life you can." She didn't know what else to do, sometimes Rick Castle had the hardest skull to get anything through, so she did the only thing that would get through to him: she kissed him. Hard. She put all of her thoughts and emotions into that kiss, trying to reassure the person she loved of all of his doubts and insecurities.

"Better?" she asked after they had pulled apart from the kiss that spoke more than words could. He nodded.

"Better." And he was better. All of the bad thought had been erased from his mind. He made a silent vow, then and there, to give these kids the best live they could ever have; to bring them up surrounded by family, friends and people who loved them; and to make sure they always know how much they are loved and that no matter what happens their mom and dad will always be there for them.

"I love you, you know that right?" Castle asked, kissing Kate one last time before returning to his still ringing phone.

"Yea I know," Kate says smiling, resting her cheek on Castle's shoulder. She loved him too.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N- Finals week is over! I'm going home! My flight leaves tomorrow morning at ten, and I'm going to try and write a little between now and when I get home. Thanks to everyone who followed, favorite and reviewed. I never in my wildest dreams imagined that a little story I was writing to relieve the stresses of college, would become what it has. I feel very blessed. **

**Anyway, this chapter is a result of a minor freak out I had about a month ago over my timeline. My friends witnessed me freaking out and doing all sorts of math, but in the end, I realized I was right and hadn't messed up my timeline after all.**

**Enjoy and happy one year anniversary Caskett.**

* * *

November- Nineteen weeks pregnant

Kate popped the top on the plastic bottle and shook out another antacid tablet. She stuck the chalky, slightly fruit tasting pill into her mouth a chewed. She had the worst heartburn ever and nothing she did made it stop.

"Ugh!" she fell back against her fortress of pillows and ran a hand through her bed-ruffled hair. She could taste the bile in the back of her throat, and winced as it went back down, burning a path down her esophagus.

Finally growing tired of feeling stomach acid burn the back of her throat, she stood and headed for the bathroom. She remembered the last time her heartburn got bad, standing under the shower made her feel better.

Sure enough the hot spray worked and stopped the evil stomach acid. It also eased the tension in her back muscles. She didn't even wash herself, just stood under the water, enjoying its magical powers.

She got out ten minutes later, and wrapped herself in a towel, letting her drenched hair drip down her back. The bathroom door opened and a cold blast of wind came in, sending chills down her spine.

She dressed quickly so she didn't get too cold, and was drying her hair when Castle walked into their bathroom.

"Almost ready?" he asked over the noise of the blow-dryer.

She flipped it off to move another section of hair down. "Yes I'll be ready in twenty minutes," she said smiling before turning the dryer back on filling the room with the whirring sound once more.

Sure enough twenty minutes later Kate came out of the room, dressed, hair and makeup done and ready to go. Save for putting her coat on and grabbing her purse.

Castle grabbed the _My Little Pony_ wrapped gift off of the kitchen counter where it had been since last night when Kate wrapped it, and followed his wife in putting on a coat and grabbing car keys and his wallet.

"You know how to get there right?" Kate asked as they road down stairs in the elevator.

They were headed to Grace Ryan's third birthday party at a Chuck-E-Cheese downtown. Her actual birthday was not for another week, but as the Ryan family would be in Florida visiting Jenny's family for Thanksgiving, they wanted to have a party for Kevin's family and all of their extended family and friends before they left.

"Of course I know how to get there," Castle scoffed, feigning anger that his wife didn't have faith in his navigation skills.

"You used the GPS didn't you?" she asked not meeting his eyes.

Castle was silent for a minute before speaking again. "No! I used Map Quest."

Kate laughed and rolled her eyes. They would probably be lost somewhere outside of Nevada were it not for Map Quest. Sometimes she didn't know how her husband got around the city, he was so directionally challenged. They got into the car and Kate read out the printed direction to Castle as he drove out of their building's parking garage and down the street.

[] []

"Hi are you guys here for a party?" the cheery staff member asked at the check in desk.

"Yes we are," Castle said smiling. "Ryan? Grace Ryan." He said. The girl, who had to be no younger that seventeen, looked at the all-powerful list sitting on the desk in front of her for Grace's name.

"Alright great!" she said. She stuck the roller stamp into the ultraviolet light sensitive ink and directed for the two adults to hold out their arms. She stamped them and then opened the gate and let them through. "It's straight back, you can't miss it," she said directing them to the party area.

They made their way back, trying not to step on the young kids that ran around. Finding what table was theirs was easy, it was covered in pink and purple sparkles and _My Little Pony_ characters, instead of the generic Chuck-E-Cheese characters every other table had.

Jenny was busy sorting out tokens for all of the kids and didn't notice Castle and Beckett approach the table until Kate touched her shoulder.

Jenny turned around and smiled. "Hey! You made it!" she said hugging both Rick and Kate.

"Where should I put this?" Castle asked holding up the present.

"Oh put it right there," Jenny said pointing to a smaller table behind the writer.

"Grace! Come say hi!" Jenny called over to her daughter who was playing happily with her friends from daycare. She looked up and smiled before running over to her aunt and uncle.

"Happy birthday sweetie," Castle said scooping up the blonde haired, blue eyed little girl. The paper crown she was wearing tumbled off her head and landed on the ground.

"Happy birthday Grace," Kate said hugging the girl who was still in her husband's arms.

"Thank you," Grace said smiling. Her attention focused on Castle and Beckett for only a moment before she gasped and wiggled to be let down. The second her feet touched the ground, she took off running.

"Uncle Javi!" she yelled, running into her godfather's open arms.

The Latin detective who had arrived arm-in-arm with his doctor girlfriend wasted no time in picking the girl up and spinning her around, making her laugh.

Lanie walked away slowly, joining Castle, Beckett and the birthday girl's parents in watching the little girl and her favorite uncle.

"She's been asking all day when Javi was getting here. She didn't care about anything about the party, just wanted her Uncle Javi," Ryan said breaking the silence between the adults.

Jenny had returned to making final preparations to the party, and Lanie turned to help her.

[] []

"Happy birthday dear Gracie! Happy birthday to you!" everyone sang, watching the three year old girl blow out her candles. Cameras flashed, capturing this moment; Cake was cut into pieces and soon enough Grace had more cake on her face than in her mouth.

The rest of the party was filled with playing more games and opening presents. Grace got lots of toys and clothes, most with _My Little Pony_ on it (Grace's current obsession).

Castle had gotten into contact with the producers of the animated show and asked if he could get the voice actors to sign some things for Grace. They did more than just sign a card for the girl. They sent out tee-shirts, toys, movies, even a CD of music from the show, and they even dedicated the newest episode, to be shown on her birthday, to her. Everything was signed and the actors sent notes to Grace wishing her a very happy birthday.

The adults laughed as the birthday girl squealed as she opened the present from her Uncle Rick and Aunt Kate. Grace's smile was so big, you could feel the happiness radiating off of her.

After playing a few more games of skeeball and helping Ryan and Esposito put all of the presents into Ryan's car, Castle and Beckett say their good-bye's and left the restaurant.

They step outside and immediately, the relative quiet of the New York streets is a hard contrast to the loud and over stimulating environment the restaurant had.

"Wow now I remember why I stopped taking Alexis there," Castle said as they get into the car and pull out into the busy street.

"It looked like Grace had fun though, and that's what matters, right?" Kate asked, eyes still focused on the traffic in front of her. "Speaking of Alexis, how do you think her and Max are doing?"

Alexis and her Boyfriend decided recently to move in together, and today was moving day. Alexis was moving all of her things out the room she had in the apartment she shared with a couple of her girlfriends, and into Max's apartment, and apparently it was a lot of stuff.

"I don't know, let's just hope Alexis hasn't murdered Max," Castle replied, pulling out his phone, typing in his daughter's number. He knew how Type A Alexis can be, how she needs to be in control of the situation at all times, Castle just hoped she didn't get too controlling and start a fight during a time when tempers were on edge.

The phone rang, and rang, but no one answered.

"Maybe she's too busy to answer her phone, or has it on silent," Kate says, seeing a look of fear cross Castle's face. Since Alexis was abducted six years ago, Richard Castle gets scared every time she doesn't answer her phone. All of the worst case scenarios cross his mind.

"Yea, you're right," Castle said, pushing the horrible thoughts to the back of his mind, trying to convince himself that everything was alright and that there was a logical explanation for Alexis not answering.

Sure enough, just as they reached the car, Castle's phone range, and Alexis' picture came up on the caller ID.

"Hey dad," she started once Castle picked up. "Sorry I missed your call, we were moving the last of the boxes up, and I didn't hear it ring." The knot in Rick Castle's stomach loosened. His daughter was fine, everything was ok.

"It's alright," he said, putting the keys into the ignition and turning the engine over to heat up the freezing car. "So, you guys are done?"

"For the most part, just gotta unpack off the boxes, but I can do that later." Castle swore he heard something hit the floor and break and them someone in the background curse very loudly. "Hold on dad," Alexis said and Castle heard the phone being pressed against her shirt, and a muffled conversation take place between his daughter and who he suspected to be one of her friends. "Sorry, Paige dropped a plate and it broke," she said.

Castle scoffed a laugh and he heard Alexis do the same. He could tell everyone on the other end was completely exhausted and not even a broken plate to ruin the euphoria of finally being don't moving for the day.

"So you guys want us to bring food?" he asked, pulling out into traffic. He heard a resounding 'yes' from the other end, and his daughter confirmed their request for food. "Any requests? Kate and I were just going to get Chinese, is that ok?"

"Yea, that's fine," Alexis said, and now that she, he assumed, was sitting, he could hear the tiredness in her voice.

[] []

At the Chinese restaurant, Kate's favorite in the city, Castle ordered practically everything on the menu as he wasn't sure what everyone was hungry for. In the end, the food filed three bags, plus a smaller one full of sauce and fortune cookies.

In the car, Kate separated their order from the food they got Alexis, Max and their friends.

Once they got to the apartment building, Kate stayed in the car while Castle took the food up to the kids.

At the door, Castle heard music and people talking. He knocked and a minute later, Alexis answered. He log chair falling out of the braid it was put into ten hours before. He accepted the hug and followed the girl into the kitchen. He set the bags down and took the money they kids and pooled to help pay for dinner.

"Where's Kate, I thought she was with you?" Alexis asked, looking around for her step mom.

"She's in the car. We're not staying, just came by to drop off the food," he said and Alexis' face fell. She wanted to show off their place to Kate who was the first one on board with the idea of the college kids moving in with each other. "We'll come by later, after you get things squared away, to see the place," Castle said with a smile, trying to make Alexis feel better.

She nodded, and laughed as all three of the boys; Max included, enlisted to help out that day, rushed up to the counter and tore open the bag of food.

Castle showed himself out, looking over his shoulder as Alexis fought to get some food before the boys ate it all.

When Castle got back into the car, he looked to his right and saw Kate, leaning against the window, asleep; the bag of food at her feet.

He simply rolled his eyes and drove off towards home. Looks like Kate would be warming her food up later.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N- Everyone still alive after Watershed? Hopefully this will keep you afloat until September. Oh and thanks for the people who told me to have a good flight home. It went very well and I am now at home with my family ready to enjoy my summer :) ****Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Not going to let some mean kids stop me from doing something that I love.**

* * *

November 20 weeks pregnant

Three large packing boxes and two full to the brim large black trash bags full of baby clothes were all sitting in the middle of the Castle living room. When Beckett told him that the women's group at Lanie's church was doing a clothing drive, he never imagined that the holding area would be in his living room. But here they were Lanie and Kate perched either on or near the couch, carefully going through each box, sorting out the sizes and picking out the especially ratty and old pieces of clothing. Both girls would oo and ah and squeal over almost every miniature piece of clothing they picked up.

The group had originally wanted to give all of the baby clothes to Castle and Beckett's quintuplets. But after some thinking and talking it over with the soon-to-be parents, they decided instead to donate the clothes to a place where families in need can take them. Castle also decided to donate grocery store gift cards as well, a little something extra to help out those who aren't as blessed as the Castle family.

Kate set the pile of clothes she was working on onto the couch next to her and shifted in her seat again; the fifth time in the past fifteen minutes. She could not seem to find a comfortable position that lasted for more than a few minutes.

"Hey, are you alright?" Lanie asked, turning her torso to look at Kate. She was sitting cross legged on the floor, leaning against the front of the couch for support.

"Yea, yea I'm fine," Kate replied.

Lies.

They were all lies.

She was most certainly not 'alright.' She was tired, her back hurt like crazy and she was very, very hungry; despite having eaten lunch not thirty minutes before. But she wouldn't let her best friend know that, so she put on a happy face and continued on with their project.

Finally after another two hours of sorting, folding and, labeling, they were finished. All of the boxes lay empty, ready to be taken apart and the bags were tossed into a corner, the girls too lazy to pick them up.

"Ok Castle, you can come out now," Kate called across the living room. Slowly, Castle appeared at the door of his room where he had been hiding out since Lanie arrived to help Kate out this morning.

He looked around the room surprised to see that it wasn't the jumbled mess he had seen yesterday, and even earlier that day, had been turned into a clean, organized not jumbled mess. The pile of smaller boxes he was sent out to get an hour before, still litter the floor, but at least they were organized and not just sitting there like a left over dust bunny.

"Wow, you girls did really well. I'm impressed," he said smiling. Both girls smiled like two kids showing their dad good grades on their report cards.

"You had doubts?" Kate asked, her smile fading with the raise of an eyebrow.

"I never doubted you for a second," he said tasking Lanie's outstretched hands and helping the ME stand up off the floor.

"Liar," Kate retorted, curling her feet against the back of the couch and covering her cold toes with a throw blanket.

Lanie just stood by and giggled. This whole exchange between her two best friends was very funny and she liked it.

"Alright well I'm gonna go. I'm on call tomorrow and need to actually get some sleep tonight," Lanie said giving a knowing look down at Kate, who laughed at their inside joke.

"Do I want to know?" Castle asked looking back and forth between both girls.

They both laughed and shook their heads. Castle just threw up his hands as a proverbial white flag.

Lanie laughed as she walked to the front door, grabbed her jacket and purse, called 'bye' over her shoulder and left.

"Did you get any writing done? Or did you spend all that time watching cat videos on YouTube?" Kate asked as Castle joined her on the couch. He set her feet on his lap and began rubbing them.

"I got some work done-"

"Liar. You've always been a bad liar Castle," Kate said turning over to look him in the eyes.

"Fine. I was watching cat videos again. But Kate! They were so cute." Kate laughed, hard and loud.

"Sometimes I seriously wonder about you," Kate said, her head now turned back to see the TV that had provided background noise for the girls all day.

Castle chuckled, still running his fingers over Kate's feet.

"God your toes are cold," Castle said.

"My toes are always cold; you should know this by now"

"Do you want me to get you some socks?"

"No, just stay here. I like this," Kate said, wiggling to find a more comfortable position.

"Ok, ok," Castle said softly, as if he were talking to a five year-old Alexis who had just woken up from a nightmare and didn't want her daddy to leave her alone with the monsters.

They stayed like that the rest of the night. Kate drifting in and out of sleep, and the only time Castle moved was to answer the door for the food he had ordered for dinner.

[] []

The operators of the shelter was quite surprised when Castle and Beckett showed up on their driveway with boxes filled with clothes and toys and other things ready to be given to the people that needed them more than they did. They were met with gracious smiles and open arms.

Now that winter had arrived, things in the shelter had gotten busier. Outside things were cold and scary and unknown. But inside, the directors, Bill and Louise, tried to bring a little joy into people's lives. They wanted to have a place for people to go that takes them away from their problems. A place where they can get help, there are resources, open to the public, like a health clinic, job hunting help and computers available for use to anyone who needs it.

Louise takes Kate on a tour of the place while Castle helps the other staff members unload their car. They pass by the cafeteria and meet a family enjoying a hot meal.

"Kate I want you to meet Richard, Heather, Luke and Addelyn Fischer. They are a constant joy to our family," Louise says, leading Kate over to the table where the family is sitting at. The adults talked for a while about anything and everything. Richard worked for nearly thirteen years as an engineer for the New York City utility department. He was laid off nine months ago, but is feeling very optimistic about an interview he had gone on the day before. Heather works as a sixth grade math teacher. She is glad she wasn't one of the nearly twenty teachers in her school district who were laid off last spring.

Somehow over the course of this conversation, the little girl, Addelyn, had found a spot on Louise's lap and was watching Kate with rapt attention. She hadn't said anything since Kate had sat down, but was obviously curious.

Kate could fell the girl watching her, and every so often would turn her head and smile, just to watch the girl become suddenly shy and hide her eyes in her jacket.

During a lull in the conversation, Kate leaned over and started playing with the little girl. She got the girl to talk a little and learned that she was four, loved ponies and had a best friends named Carlie.

"Come play with me?" she asked, sliding to the ground and offering a hand to Kate. Kate smiled, stood an took the girl's hand. Addelyn led them to the small play room that had been set up.

There was a TV in the corner playing a constant loop of Disney movies.

"Oh! Rapunzel!" Addelyn said as she found a spot on the floor in front of the movie.

"Do you like her?" Kate asked. She watched as her new friend's brown pony-tail bobbed up and down, the girl entranced by the movie.

After a minute Kate sat down and watched the movie too.

_If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," she thought. _

That's where Castle found them, two hours later. Both lost in the gripping finale of _The Little Mermaid._ Kate had forgotten how much she loved this movie as a kid.

"Hey, ready to go?" Kate jumped at his voice, and Addelyn laughed.

"Oh hey Castle," she recovered quickly. "Yea, I'm ready." She stood up, a task getting harder and harder to do on her own as her pregnancy has gone on.

"It was really fun watching movies with you, Addelyn," Kate said, getting a hug from her new friend.

"Will I see you again?" she asked, stepping away and biting down on the sleeve of her jacket.

"Of course! I'll be back," Kate really did want to come back. She had fallen in love with the girl and her family.

She gave Addelyn one last hug then followed Castle out of the room, down the hall and out to the now cold car.

"That was fun. I'm glad we did this," Castle said taking Kate's hand in his own.

"It was," Kate said absentmindedly. She was lost in her thoughts.

"Hey," Castle said regaining Kate's attention. "What are you thinking?"

"We should do that giving tree thing this Christmas. It would be nice to give back."

"Yea, that would be nice."

"I can put our name on the list down at the precinct. Esposito can bring down our names once they get drawn."

[] []

"I'm going to do some writing," Castle said once they got home. Her toed off his shoed and walked towards his office, closing the door behind him. Kate took advantage of the gloomy weather they had been having by curling up with a good book and a blanket.

Kate read the last sentence of the last page of her book. She closed the cover and rubbed her hands over her eyes as they adjusted from the paper of the book to actually having to look at things in the real world. She checked the time on her phone and groaned at what she saw. It was much to late for her to be up, she didn't even know how she had stayed up so late.

She walked into the office door and heard the clicking of a keyboard. She slowly opened the door, holding her breath at the point where it always squeaks. She saw Castle feverishly typing away on the latest draft of the next Nikki Heat novel.

"Hey, I'm going to bed. Are you coming?" she asked quietly. She got no response, but that was normal when Castle was in his writing zone. She tiptoed through the office and into the bedroom, brushed her teeth and laid down in bed.

Rick Castle finally looked up from his computer screen, his neck cracking at the movement. He had just written two very good chapters and was happy with his work that day. He shut the computer down, turned the lamp off and padded cautiously through the darkness into his bedroom.

[] []

"Castle," Kate's voice whispered sharply through the darkness of their bedroom. He didn't wake up, just wriggled a little in his sleep.

"Castle!" she said again, not whispering anymore.

This time he did wake up, waking up his phone to check the time.

Three-thirty in the morning.

He had just gone to bed no more than an hour ago and now his wife was waking him up.

She was gripping his bicep and her eyes and face were aghast with fear.

"Castle, something isn't right,"


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N- Hey guys! Long time no see. I want to tank y'all for the reviews on my last chapter. I realize now that I might have been a little mean to you in leaving it in a cliff hanger, especially since it was right after 'Watershed.' So, I apologize for that. Now, this chapter took me a while to write, the muse and I were fighting again -_-, sometimes I really don't like her, so please excuse the sheer crap-tastic-ness of this one. I Wanted to give you all SOMETHING to work with.**

**I wanted to give a special thanks to my cousins Amanda, Angela, Alesha, Tawni, A.J, Benny and Sophia for letting me crash their trip to Disneyland for the 'All-nighter' thing they did.**

**Disclaimer: Go Kings Go! (Because it's the cup)**

* * *

The hospital was too bright, to over stimulating. Too many things were going on at once. It smelt of bleach and a hundred other things at the same time.

After filling out a small stack of papers, he now understood why Beckett hated it so much, Castle wandered the labyrinth of hallways in the ER trying to find his wife.

He passed room after room, person after person, some sitting on beds in the hallway, the odd 'hospital' smell finally fading away into the background of his senses.

Finally after rounding the sixth corner he found the room the nurses had put Kate into.

She was right next to a dirty, smelly drunk who was put there to sleep off his latest escapade in binge drinking.

Castle stood outside for a minute before parting the curtain and sitting down in the chair next to Kate's bed. The nurse in the room didn't give Castle a passing glance; she was too busy doing her job.

Kate's eyes were screwed shut. But even pressing her eyelids as close together as she could get them, tears still managed to slip through and make tracks down the side of her cheek and into her ears and hair.

She was feeling so many things at once; it was hard to describe them all. The main ones were fear and pain. When asked by the doctor to describe what hurt, she pointed out her back, pelvis and chest.

A nurse had to try four times to get an IV into her arm, finally finding a spot on the back of her hand. The IV was hooked to a bag of fluids, ready to give pain medication or any other drugs that were required during her stay. The wires to a heart monitor were attached to her chest, and five different monitors were put on her stomach to make sure the babies were alright.

The nurse putting the fetal monitor onto Kate had to try countless time to find one of the signals, as the baby kept moving around.

"Come on buddy, hold still for me," the nurse said, once again moving the probe around to find the babies' heart beat.

Castle could only laugh as he held Kate's hand. They went through the same thing every time Kate went in for an ultrasound. He was a trouble maker, that one, and is probably going to be giving his parents a whole lot of grief when he's older.

The nurse spread another blanket over Kate before leaving to check on her other patients. Castle wiped Kate's tears away with his thumb. He whispered soft words into her ear, trying to calm her down. He looked up and watched as the number on the heart monitor Kate was on slowly dropped as she calmed down.

Slowly her eyes relaxed and opened, and she blinked against the bright hospital lights.

"Castle," Kate whispered before her eyes filled with new tears.

"Hey, don't cry. Everything is going to be ok," he said kissing the back of her hand, the one without the IV in it.

Kate nodded, and blinked back the tears. She took a deep breath, and swallowed hard.

She had never been more scared in her whole life. Not when she was shot, not when she almost fell of the roof of a building. Not even when she was eleven and her best friend persuaded her to go on the biggest roller-coaster in the amusement part on their sixth grade trip.

"Hi I'm Doctor Jackson Greene," the doctor, a balding man with big brown eyes said as he parted the curtain around Kate's bed. "So you're five months pregnant, right?" he asked Kate. She nodded, not scared anymore, her tough homicide cop exterior showing.

"And the nurses told me you were experiencing some pain in your chest, back and stomach, right?"

"Exactly," Kate said nodding.

"Alright well we're going to run some tests and see if we can't figure out what's going on, alright?" the doctor smiled. He didn't look worried and Kate guessed he was someone who had seen thing during his time as a doctor.

He looked at the chart for the fetal monitor and wrote some notes on Kate's chart.

"Kellie, get OB down here, but make sure it's Hicks not McLucas, I don't want it to take four hours. Put her on five percent O2, her pulse ox is a little low, and tell Lucy that the guy in three is her patient, and not to pawn him off on med students," Dr. Green said handing the chart off to a petite African American woman, the same nurse who had been with Kate since she got to the ER.

"I'm not her attending, tell her yourself," Kellie said to the doctor.

"Just go," he said walking away. The nurse just sighed and mumbled something about how the doctors are a bunch of lazy asses and can't do anything for themselves. She hooked Kate up to the oxygen and left once more.

[] []

The doctor in the ER wanted to make sure nothing was wrong with Kate's chest that was causing her to have trouble breathing. So after here initial exam, she was take to get an x-ray of her chest done.

"There is nothing wrong I can see on your x-rays," Dr. Greene said after the results of Kate's tests had come in. "What I thing happened is that the baby that is laying here," he said pointing to the spot right below Kate's ribs in her left side. "Was moving and kicking so much that he must have bruised your ribs making it hurt to breathe."

Oh that trouble maker of a boy; always making things harder for his mom and dad.

"It's not life threatening, you're just going to be sore for a while."

Kate had to laugh at that, even though it hurt to laugh. It was funny though! Her un-born child bruising her ribs form the inside, it's like the makings of a really bad joke.

[] []

Kate guessed that the preferred doctor from OB wasn't available because two hours later, a blonde man wearing glasses showed up. He looked at the fetal monitor, then back at Kate. This went on for some time before the doctor simply shook his head and left the room.

"Nice to meet you too," Castle said to the doctor's back. He hadn't introduced himself, or said anything to them while he was in the room.

A minute later they could hear the ER doctor who had seen Kate, and what Castle assumed was the doctor from OB arguing in the hallway.

Castle stood and walked to the curtain. He pulled the edge back a little bit, trying to hear the doctors better.

"Castle!" Kate hissed making her husband jump and look at her. "It is not polite to eavesdrop on other people's conversations."

Castle shhh-es her and puts a finger to his lips as he listens to the argument going right outside their door.

The argument ends with the ER doctor storming off in a huff, while the guy from OB taps loudly on a phone, finally connecting with the person on the other end.

[] []

"I'm sorry about earlier, I had to talk to a few people," The doctor from OB says has he re-enters the room a few minutes later

Both Castle and Beckett nod and shake his offered hand.

"Now Can you tell me what your pain feels like?" the doctor, who had introduced himself as McLucas, asked Kate.

"Well it's like I'm cramping, like when I'm on my period," she says, feeling slightly embarrassed talking about all of this to a room full of men.

"How bad is the pain on a scale of one to ten?"

"I don't know, maybe a four or five. It's not that bad. It's just I knew something wasn't right."

"Any you were smart to come because according to the monitor we have you on, you are in labor."

Kate stopped, didn't move, didn't breathe.

How could she be in labor? She wasn't far enough along in her pregnancy to be in labor.

Was it something she did? Did she cause this? Oh god! It's all her fault! She put herself and her children at risk all because she wanted to go and help people out on the holidays.

"Don't worry it's a common thing in women with multiple pregnancies. And you've only had five or six contractions since you got here. Now what I'm going to do is give you a drug to stop your labor. I should warn you, it might make you feel like crap."

Kate groaned but said yes to the drug.

[] []

The nurse came back, with the drug and another doctor. She had long inky black hair and bright green eyes. She was holding a chart in her hands and Kate had come into the middle of their conversation.

"-but shouldn't I file that under sexual harassment?"

"Listen Lucy, I have a job to do. I don't have time to babysit you every second of every day."

"I know, but Kellie he grabbed my boobs!"

Kate laughed. Oh this girl was so young and naive.

"Lucy!" Kellie yelled to get the young doctor's attention. "You are a woman working in an emergency room. You are bound to get touched inappropriately at some point. It's happens to all of us."

Lucy just groaned and stalked out.

"Is she always like that?" Kate asked as the nurse checked to make sure he IV was still flowing cleanly and not clogged.

"Oh she was much worse when she was a med student," Kellie just rolled her eyes and made a face which made Kate laugh. "Alright well you're all set. I'll come back later to check on you."

"Thank you," Kate said and her nurse smiled and walked out of the room.

Kate sighed and fell back against the pillow.

[] []

The doctor was right; the drug did make her feel like crap. Castle had found a wet paper towel and held it against the back of her neck, and it made her feel a lot less nauseated. How that works, she will never know.

Even though it made Kate feel sick, the medicine had worked. Her contractions had stopped and when she had her cervix checked by a nurse, she was only dilated to two centimeters, which was a good thing. It meant that they had stopped her labor and she hopefully would be fine for the duration of her pregnancy.

When Dr. McLucas came back in to check on her once more, he didn't look happy.

"What's wrong?" Kate asked. She _was_ a homicide detective after all. She was trained on knowing when something was out of place.

"Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I spoke with your OB/GYN, Dr. Lee and she had I had a long conversation, but in the end we decided that it would be best for you to be put on bed rest. No leaving you house. No taking walks after dinner. No moving farther than from you bed to the couch to the bathroom. We want you to stay sitting or lying down."

Kate understood. Even thought it would probably suck, it was for the benefit of her health and the health of her babies.

Half an hour later, after signing even more papers, they were free to leave. Kate was put in a wheelchair, and didn't complain to the nurse about it this time.

"Happy Thanksgiving," the nurse said as she walked away from helping them out to the car.

Was it really Thanksgiving_?_

Kate quickly pulled out her phone out of her pocket and looked at the calendar.

Oh my god, it _is_ Thanksgiving.

Kate groaned and ran a hand through her hair and down her face.

"Castle, I am so sorry," Kate said.

"Sorry for what?" Castle asked, looking both ways before pulling out into traffic.

"For ruining your Thanksgiving."

"What do you mean? You didn't ruin anything," he said taking her hand across the center console. "I mean the hospital is the last place I would want to be, but nothing is ruined."

"But weren't you supposed to start cooking right about now?" Kate asked checking the time.

8:30

"Don't worry about that, I've got it handled," he said.

Kate looked at him through the corner of her eye.

"Alexis put the turkey in the oven and everything else can wait until we get home.

Oh yea, Alexis is home. Kate had almost forgotten her step-daughter was coming home for Thanksgiving weekend.

Kate was silent the rest of the way home, her head resting against the window.

[] []

"Hey dad," Alexis says, coming down the stairs. She had just taken a shower so her hair dripped down the back of the t-shirt she was wearing.

"Hey pumpkin," Castle says, hugging his daughters shoulders.

"Is Kate alright?"

"I think so. She's pretty exhausted and a little shaken up. But she'll be fine"

"I feel really bad about what happened. I mean everything was fine until this morning."

"Don't feel bad," he says running his hand down Alexis' arm. He putters around the kitchen working on making breakfast for him and Kate and also trying to get Thanksgiving dinner underway. "The doctor said that sometimes things like this just happen, there is not always a logical explanation for these kinds of things."

Alexis smiles slightly before checking the oven to make sure the turkey didn't spontaneously explode during the twenty minutes she was taking a shower.

"If you want to go back to bed, I can handle things out here for a while," Alexis says looking at her father who looks about ready to fall asleep standing up in their kitchen.

"I might just do that. Wake me up but noon so we can start cooking," he abandons the half-assed peanut butter and jelly toast sandwich he was making and heads for the warm, quiet recesses of his bedroom.

Kate is fast asleep by the time he gets there. He changes quietly, slips under the covers and wraps a protective arm around Kate's shoulders.

He's asleep a minute later.

[] []

By two in the afternoon, everyone is awake, maybe not dressed, but awake and the food for dinner is well underway to being finished.

Kate's dad, who had arrived twenty minutes prior, sits on the couch with his daughter, a football game blaring in front of them. Kate tells her dad about what happened, as he only got a few not very informative text messages from his daughter while she was in the hospital.

"Katie, you could have called me," Jim says to his daughter Kate only rolls her eyes and begins to explain to her dad again why she didn't call him.

"Dad, I would have called you if it were absolutely necessary. I know you love me and Castle and the babies, but I as fine. Everything turned out fine." She takes his hand and smiles. That shy, under her eye-lids smile. One that still rings with 'daddy's little girl' even when daddy's little girl is all grown up and is having babies of her own.

"I know you would have, I just don't like to hear about these things after the fact."

"I know you don't. I'm trying to get better about those kinds of things. I promise we'll keep you more in the loop, OK?"

"Thank you."

"Who's playing?" Martha asks sitting down in the arm-chair across from Kate.

"Giants and Raiders," Kate says, her attention back on the game.

"Who do we want to win?" Martha asks, watching a play finish and the players get up from their dog pile over the guy with the ball.

"Giants!" Everyone- Kate, Alexis, Jim and Rick all say at once. No one in their family really watches football, but they all know to not root for the Raiders. They're from New York, not California, gotta have a little pride in their home town team.

"Alright let's eat!" Rick calls from across the living room as he sets down the last of the serving bowls filled with food.

[] []

Hours later, after everyone has gone home and the traditional 'after dinner dishes have been cleaned up' turkey sandwich has been eaten, Kate lays in bed unable to sleep; she did take a five hour nap in the middle of the day.

She watches Castle sleep, his face scrunched up against the side of his pillow that has somehow turned from horizontal to vertical in time since he came to bed. His hair has fallen into his face and Kate realizes how long it's gotten. Looks like it's time for someone to get a haircut, and soon. Moonlight seeps in through the crack in the curtains and casts one single beam across both of their torsos.

Kate watches the patch of visible sky through the curtains and gets lost in her own little world. Sometime soon after, she finally falls asleep.


	16. Chapter 16

December 22 weeks pregnant

Christmas was in a little less than two weeks. The Castle loft was filled with boxes of decorations. The giant tree had just been installed the day before and was waiting to be decorated. The smell of pine and cinnamon filled the entire apartment.

Kate Beckett sat on the couch, a Santa hat sitting on top of her copper curls. She pulled open a cardboard box labeled 'x-mas movies and things.' Kate gasped. The boxes was full to bursting with Christmas themed books and movies and towards the bottom were toys, stuffed animals and a few Santa hats; obviously left over from when Alexis was little.

She started pulling out the books and looking at the titles setting them on the couch next to her. She smiled as she remembered reading a large chunk of the books she was pulling out of the box.

"Hey I remember that one," Alexis say looking at the picture book Kate had just taken out of the box:

_Eloise at Christmastime._

"I even think the movie version is in there somewhere," the redhead says with a smile. "This was one of my favorite books to read around this time of year. After Thanksgiving until Christmas, this was my book of choice. Well and _The Grinch_ of course," Alexis says with a laugh

Kate digs through the piles of movies at the bottom looking for the movie based on her step-daughter's favorite book.

"Here, put it in. we can listen while we help your dad decorate the tree," Kate says once she finds the DVD case.

"Really?"

"Sure why not? I'm up for a trip down memory lane," Kate smiles.

"Wow, thanks Kate," Alexis stands and takes the movie case Kate is handing her. The smile on her face makes Kate remember a story Castle once told her and for a moment she can actually picture the four year old Alexis in footy pajamas curling into her dad's side as they watch the movie for the tenth time in the past two days.

Kate smiles at the thought and runs a hand over her stomach. She can't wait until her babies are born. She can't wait to make these memories with them just like Alexis and Rick have.

Kate feels the babies move as if they are getting comfortable to watch the movie with their mom and big sister. "Looks like they already like it," Kate says, putting Alexis' hand over her stomach. The girl stands over Kate's legs and was just about to open another box of ornaments when her hand was snatched away and put over her step-mom's belly.

Alexis smiles and lets out a breathy laugh. "Don't worry baby girls, when you get here, we will watch this movie as many time as you like," she says to Kate's stomach.

"Here that babies? Alexis is super excited to see you."

"Have you guys finally decided what the call them?" Alexis asks, not meaning anything other than utter curiosity on her half.

Kate rolls her eyes and groans. "No because your dad won't help me," Kate says, shooting Castle a look over her shoulder which he doesn't see as he is up ten feel on a ladder putting up the higher decorations.

"Dad!" Alexis says, shaking her head and breathing out a laugh. Sounds like something dad would do.

"What, I did help," Rick says, he face muffled by tree branches.

"Castle, we are not calling our child Anakin Skywalker!" Kate says.

"Dad, did you seriously suggest that?" Alexis asks, silently face-palming herself for her dad's craziness.

"What? It's a good name!" Castle says stepping down the latter and setting his feet back on solid ground.

"This coming from the guy who named a character in his best-selling series Nikki Heat," Kate retorts.

"Ok Madame 'name maker,' what do _you_ think they should be named?" Kate pauses for a second, knowing whatever she says in this moment probably will either be used against her at some point (probably to get her to do something she won't like) or be fodder for a future novel.

"I don't know maybe something like Charlotte or Caroline. I've always like those names," she smiles then buries her face in a throw pillow sitting next to her, suddenly very shy and embarrassed.

Castle is left speechless. Wow this woman has really put thought into this. She's probably like those names since she was little, even going so far as to name all of her baby dolls Charlotte or Caroline.

Sure they've talked about what they're going to name the babies, even filling in pages of an old notebook with ideas. He never thought it was such a big deal. When Alexis was born, her mom wasn't really involved in those kinds of decisions, so he picked a name he liked. Castle always thought it would be the same way with the quints.

"Hey Alexis, wanna put the last ornament on?" Castle asks making his daughter and wife instantly forget what they had just talked about and focus on something else.

Alexis smiles brightly and the four year old returns to her eyes and face. She takes the ornament, a ballerina in a pink tutu a la the Nutcracker hanging from a pink silk ribbon that her grandmother, Martha, got for her the year she turned six and was obsessed with ballet, and puts it onto the tree on a branch right at her eye level.

Cookie Angel no longer hangs on the tree. Instead he sits, all year long, in a shadow box with pictures and mementos of Alexis from the year she made him.

"There, how does that look?" Rick asks stepping back and looking between Alexis and Kate.

"I love it. You did a good job Castle," Kate says, grabbing his wrist and kissing the back of his hand.

"Me too. It looks great, like always," Alexis says kissing her dad's cheek.

"Thank you girls," Castle says, leading himself and Alexis around the couch and sits down between both girls. They can put off decorating the rest of the place until later, right now he's going to watch a movie with is oldest daughter, Wife and five youngest kids.

[] []

They had escaped after decorating the tree; just him and Alexis, like in the old days. The walked the streets, sipping on hot chocolate and looking at the displays in the store windows.

"You're awful quiet tonight," Castle says bumping into Alexis' shoulder with his own. Alexis just shrugs and stays quiet. She's looking at her booted feet and is chewing on the corner of her bottom lip. "Hey, what's wrong?"

She looks up, but doesn't meet his eyes.

"Max wants me to come with him to North Carolina for Christmas," Alexis finally says, dropping her empty cup into a trash can.

Oh.

"Well that's great. You're gonna have a great time."

"That's not what I'm worried about."

"Then what's the problem?"

"What if they don't like me?"

"What do you mean? They love you."

"Max's mom, dad, and brother do. I've never met the rest of his family."

"Well I don't think there is anything to be worried about. If Max has played you up to his family as much as you have about him to us, they will love you." He puts his arm around her shoulders and pulls her closer, squeezing her to his side.

"I know, I'm just scared."

Castle doesn't say anything, just hugs his daughter again and kisses her temple.

They continue on their walk, the cold starting to seep through their gloves and boots.

[] []

"Did Alexis tell you that Max is taking her to see his family for Christmas?" Castle asked Kate as they readied for bed later that night.

"No she didn't. Is that what she wanted to talk to you about?"

"Yea. She doesn't think they will like her."

That's crazy! They are going to love her."

"That's what I said! I don't know. I think she's just scared she'll do something to embarrass herself in front of Max's family. She really likes this guy and doesn't want to ruin it."

"She'll be fine. Once she gets there and relaxes a little bit, it will be fine." Kate grabs her toothbrush from the cup on the counter and runs it under the tap. She spreads toothpaste on it and brushes her teeth until her mouth can't hold any more foam. She spits and runs the water, rinsing her mouth and toothbrush. She flips off the light as she leaves.

She pulls back the covers on her side and slips in. her feet rub against Castle's and she feels him flinch.

"I hate that you sleep with socks on," he says, moving away from her socked feet.

"Castle it's the middle of winter, my feet get cold."

"I still hate it."

Kate rolls her eyes. She turns and flips off her bedside lamp before getting comfortable on her pillows. She makes sure her feet run along Castle's legs, just to upset him.

"You're mean, you know that?"

"You like it."

"Maybe. Sometimes."


	17. Chapter 17

December 24 weeks pregnant

"Ok, you are done," Castle said coming up and closing the lid to Kate's laptop.

"Hey! Castle I was reading that!" she protested, opening the computer again and logging back in as it logs itself out when the lid closes.

"Not any more you're not. Kate, you are going to make yourself crazy looking at all of the bad things that could happen."

He takes the computer and sets it onto the coffee table in front of them. He sits on the couch next to her, putting the blanket she's using over his legs. She leans into him, making his shoulder into a pillow.

"You're scared huh?"

"What, no, no I'm not," she lies.

He knows she's lying, but doesn't push the subject. He knows perfectly well that she knows that everything is fine and that worrying about it will just get her mind worked up and will make her paranoid and highly acute to everything that is going on around her.

"Are you all packed?"

"Almost, just gotta pack my makeup bag tomorrow morning before we leave."

"Ok good." He puts an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. He kisses her temple and runs a hand over her stomach.

He didn't want her to leave tomorrow; he just wanted to stay like this, curled up on the couch, until the babies are born. But he knows it's for the best. Kate's doctor is admitting her to the hospital and is putting her under closer observation just in case something were to happen.

But in the end it's not about what he wants. It's about making sure that Kate and the babies stay safe and if that means that they have to be away from home for a while, then so be it.

[] []

Castle jolted awake, blinking hard a few times to clear his eyes. Something crashing outside had woken him up, or it might have been in his dream, he wasn't sure. He plucked his phone from where is had slid between the couch cushions and checked the time.

It was late. Middle of the night late. Four-thirty in the morning late.

He sat up, rubbing the crick out of his neck. His arm was still curled around Kate's shoulder and his hand was _this close_ to groping her boob.

"Kate," he whispered, shaking her shoulder to wake her up. She startled awake, sitting up straight, eyes wide. She looked around for any possible signs of danger.

"Come on," he said a little louder than a whisper. He helped her stand and led her to bed.

Once Kate was settled under the covers, fast asleep again, Castle sat on his side of the bed, and slipped off his sweat pants leaving him in just boxers and a tee shirt. He pulled the covers back and lay down. The blankets only covered his bare legs but he was too tired to fix it. He curled an arm under his pillow to support his head and fell asleep again, the hope of finding that dream again still in his mind.

[] []

She didn't have any recollection of being moved from the couch to bed, but her she lies, curled on her side, a pillow between her legs, wide awake. It was only seven in the morning, much too early to be awake on a day when she didn't need to be. There was no particular reason for her to be awake, her mind wasn't racing, she wasn't sick, she was just awake, ready to be up for the day; which was weird because she normally would never be awake this early, unless it was for work or for something important.

Finally she realized that if she stayed like this, she would end up waking up Castle, and that never turned out very well. She flipped back the blankets and got out of bed. She headed for the living room and resumed her favorite spot on the couch, the one squashed in the corner like a cocoon. She set her laptop over her stomach and pulled up Netflix. She searched through the videos before finding the children's TV shows. She clicked on the first one she found that didn't sound stupid to her, which happened to be one of the shows she remembered her cousins watching when they were little and she would baby-sit for them.

She hit play and the video started. She quickly turned the volume down so it was still loud enough to be heard, but quiet enough to not wake anyone else up.

"Guess I better start getting used to these kinds of shows, huh?" she asked herself as she felt the babies move around, like they had been all night, as the listened to the cartoons playing on the computer.

Strangely, the show wasn't half bad; a little under her mental level, but not half bad. Maybe watching countless hours of these programs while her kids are growing up is not going to be as annoying as she thought.

Two hours and four episodes later Kate realized it was time to get ready for the day. She shut down her computer and, three tries later, got up off the couch. She moved back into the dark, quiet bedroom where a still sleeping Castle lay face down on his pillow. She crossed the room, grabbing a towel on her way and went into the bathroom.

Once the door was closed, she felt safe turning on the light and starting the shower.

She was checking into the hospital today. She was being put under a higher level of observation and considering the high risk of her pregnancy, she was glad her doctor was making her go to the hospital. But in all honesty, she didn't want to leave home. She didn't want to be in a strange place for a long period. she wanted to sleep in her bed and take a shower in her bathroom. But in the end, it's not about what she wanted. All that mattered was that the babies stayed safe and that in a few months she and Castle came home with five happy, healthy babies.

[] []

Castle had just woken up when she came out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel her wet hair dripping down her back.

"Hey," he said, rubbing he heel of his hand into his eyes, his voice still sleep heavy.

"Hey yourself," she said smiling.

"You're up early."

"Just felt ready to start my day."

He groaned as he sat up, his neck and knees cracking from not moving all night. He yawned and stretched before standing up and coming up behind Kate who was finishing getting dressed. He kissed her cheek good morning before making his way to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

Kate put on comfortable, but presentable clothes and pulled her bangs back with a clip.

She put last minute things into her suitcase before moving into the bathroom where a naked Castle, fresh out of the shower, stood in front of the sink. She finished packing her make up bag and turned to leave when Castle grabbed her shoulder. He spun her around and planted a proper good morning kis on her lips before letting her go.

Castle came out a few minutes later and changed into a simple blue tee shirt and jeans.

Kate had opened the blinds and let the cloud covered winter sunlight into the room. The combination of the light and his shirt made Castle's blue eyes pop a lot more than usual.

She came up to him and kissed him. She pulled back and smiled.

"What was that for?" he asked, a little dumbfounded.

"Just because," was all she said before leaving the room.

[] []

Castle threw the last of Kate's bags into the back of the car before getting in himself. He pulled his seatbelt over his shoulder and back out of his spot. The radio was fuzzy from them being underground, but he could still make out the opening bars to Lady Gaga's 'Bad Romance.'

He started singing along to the _very_ annoying song. Kate laughed but turned the volume up and started singing too.

Sure the song was annoying, but when Kate sang it, she somehow made it a lot better than annoying.

They were stuck in the long line to get out of the parking garage.

"Oh come on!" Castle shouted, pounding on the steering wheel.

"Castle it's two days before New Year's, people are trying to get out of the city to celebrate, there's going to be a lot of traffic."

"Ugh!" Castle groans. But finally the line moves and the make it out on the garage and onto the streets into even more traffic.

[] []

Nothing cures a little bit of separation anxiety more than a short stack of Remy's famous pancakes. The scored their favorite corner booth and ordered the same thing: pancakes and a milkshake (strawberry for Kate and mint chip for Rick).

When the plates came out they lived up to their reputation. They were the size of the plate, and it wasn't a small plate either. A short stack of two pancakes was more than enough to keep a fully grown man full almost all day. Of course neither Kate not Rick are fully grown men, so just half of the half order is more than enough to fill them up.

"Mmm, oh my god these are so good," Kate said through a full mouth. They hadn't had Remy's breakfast in a long time, and like returning home after a long stint away, these pancakes were like a warm hug and very good sex all wrapped into one.

"How are we doing kids?" Marge, their favorite waitress and someone who had worked at Remy's long than Rick and Kate have been alive, came up to their table.

"We're good," Kate says wiping the dripping syrup off her chin.

"I heard you're going to the hospital?" Marge asked, leaning against the edge of the table.

Kate nodded. "They want to admit me and put me under close observation, just in case anything were to happen."

"Well then I wish you all the best, and can't wait for you and those babies came back," Marge smiled.

"Thank you. And don't worry, we'll be back."

The waitress walked away, leaving the check on their table, but reminded that there was no rush to finish.

They took their last bites of the pancakes and downed the last of their shakes, until loud slurping noises could be heard from their cups. Castle paid the bill and left a large tip for their waitress before putting his coat on and following Kate out the door and down the street to their parked car.

[] []

Paparazzi have an un-canny knack for knowing just where the person they are following will be at all times. They were in front of the restaurant when Castle and Beckett their there that morning and the same photographers were in front of the hospital two hours later.

Castle pulled around to the valet parking, and handed the driver his keys with the reminder to be careful with his car. He put his hand at the small of Kate's back and led her inside, ignoring the shouts from the paparazzi.

"God, will they ever just go away?" Castle asked, once they were cleared of the doors and walking down the hallway.

"Castle you know just as much as I do, they are not going away until they get what they want."

"Which is definitely not now."

"No, go no. soon, but not now."

"Yea, soon."

They got onto the elevator and rode up the three floors to the maternity ward where they were checked in by a kind woman with blue eyes and wearing green scrubs.

"You will be in room 2109," the nurse said, getting up and coming around to lead Rick and Kate to her their room.

The door looked like every other door on the floor: white board with a marker for doctor and nurse notes and a rack to put Kate's chart into. Thankfully Kate was put into a room by herself, no other person to worry about or to annoy with Castle's constant fidgeting.

"Castle!" Kate hissed after watching her husband find, and press nearly every button in her room. "Act your age, not your shoe size.

"Sorry," he said, looking down at his feet and folding his hands across his chest.

Rick Castle didn't like the room one bit. Everything in it was very plain, monotone, boring. It needed color, fun, life.

He pulled the picture Grace Ryan had made him and Kate as a Christmas gift. It was a snowman made out of cotton balls and had construction paper accessories. The whole thing was matted on a piece of blue construction paper. It was cute, in a preschooler sort of way. He hung it on a blank space off wall between the bed and the window. It was an eye catching point in the room; the only color on the tan painted walls.

"What's that?' Kate asked him as he stepped away from taping the picture to the wall.

"Just thought you could use a piece of home." He smiled at the way her face lit up at the kind gesture.

A nurse came in just then, a Hispanic woman with dark, curly hair. She smiled at Rick and Kate, before pulling a stool over to the computer and logging in. her eyes caught the picture hanging on the wall and she smiled.

"That something your daughter made for you?" she asked them.

"No, actually my niece made it," Kate said, sitting down on the bed and holding out her arm for the blood pressure test the nurse was preparing for.

"Well that's sweet," the nurse said, velcroing the cuff around Kate's arm.

"Yea, it is," Kate sighed, already missing the young girl, even though she had just seen her not even a week prior.

"I'm Esmeralda, by the way. I'll be your nurse while you're here," she introduced herself, marking down the test results into Kate's chart.

"I'm Kate, and this is my husband Rick," Kate said introducing them to the young nurse.

"Well it's nice to meet you." Esmeralda closed Kate's chart and stood to leave, squirting her hands with the hand sanitized form the bottle on the desk. "Dr. Lee will be here soon to check on you and make sure you're settling in alright," at that, she turned and left, the door clicking shut behind her.

[] []

Dr. Lee checked Kate out and told her that because she was here for closer observation, she would be hooked up to a fetal monitor for two hours a day: once in the morning and again at night. They wanted to make sure that the babies were doing alright and that if anything was going wrong they would be able to catch it quickly and hopefully prevent it from turning into something very bad.

The doctor said she would be back to check on Kate later that day, as it was just barely one in the afternoon.

Once she left, Castle moved from his perch on the reclining chair in the room to grab his laptop out of his bag. He sat back down, turning the machine on and setting it on his lap.

"So, hurry up and wait huh?" he asked Kate who was also playing on her own computer.

"I guess so," she said, not looking up. She was probably looking at more articles about the risks of a multiple pregnancy. Even in the hospital she was still a worry wart, that would probably never change.

* * *

**A/N- just wanted to let you guys know that I'm leaving for a week long trip to Yellowstone with my family tomorrow. I don't know how good the interwebs are at the campsite we are staying at, so don't feel bad if you don't hear from me next week. But I will be writing as much as I can, so you will be getting an update soon. Hope you all are having a good summer (or winter if you live south of the Equator) and I'll see you in another life.**


	18. Chapter 18

January-26 weeks pregnant

"You should be writing," she says looking up from the book she's reading.

"I'm finished with the book," he says from behind his cell phone where he's doing god knows what.

"You're telling me that you, Richard Castle: the king of procrastination, have finished your novel on time and have absolutely nothing to do?" she asks, shooting him a look that he doesn't need to see to know she's giving him.

"Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying."

"Ok, whatever Castle."

"Oh my god! You don't believe me!"

"I never said that"

"Yes but you implied that. You don't believe that I can actually buckle down and finish my work and have it in when it's supposed to be."

"Well Castle, there have been plenty of times when you said it would happen, and it never did."

"Name one"

"Well let's see: last year when the outline was due, you turned it in a month late; when the first three chapters were due, you turned those in late. Would you like me to go on?"

"Ok, I see your point. I haven't been the greatest about sticking to deadlines, but I'm telling you the truth. If you don't believe me, call Gina, she'll stick up for me."

Kate smiled. She didn't need to call her husband's publisher-slash-ex-wife to know he was telling the truth, she just liked messing with his head on occasion.

"Well since you're not doing anything important right now, why don't you go down to the cafeteria and get me something to eat?"

"You have legs, why don't you go?"

"Because I kinda can't right now," she said pointing at the five fetal monitors attached to her stomach. She still had forty minutes left on her morning monitoring session and was already getting antsy to get up and walk around. She was also hungry and had to pee, but those problems had to be solved one at a time. First: food.

"Alright, I'll go. Anything in particular you want?"

She just shook her head. "Get me a little bit of everything." He nodded, locking his phone and slipping it into his pocket. He crossed the rom, pulling the door open and turning down the hallway towards the elevator. The last thing Kate heard was the door clicking shut quietly.

[] []

Twenty minutes later Castle burst back through the door to Kate's room. He set the full tray and two cups of coffee onto the table over the bed, and started bouncing on his toes like the nine-year-old-on-a-sugar-rush he was.

"What is wrong with you?" Kate asked giving him a quizzical look as she sat up a little more.

"Taste this," he said shoving the paper cup into her face.

What was the big deal? It was just coffee, right?

She looked up at him questioningly again and he smiled bigger and nodded for her to take a drink.

Kate put the cup up to her lips and let the coffee spill into her mouth.

Her face cringed. This wasn't coffee! What the hell!

"Castle, what is this? She asked putting the cup back onto the table.

"That, my darling detective, is what a monkey peeing in battery acid tastes like," he still had that 'Cheshire Cat' grin on his face.

She cautiously took the cup again and took another sip, and still it made her taste buds protest and her mouth cringe.

He was right.

Castle took both cups and tossed them in the trash can. They were over that bad coffee. That was _so_ eight years ago.

"So what Castle, are you going to buy them a cappuccino machine, like you did for us?"

He scoffed and shook his head. "Only if they give me the night of my life first."

Kate laughed, her smile big and wide. The sunlight streaming in from the window turned her hair from brown to an almost caramel color.

Castle stood up next to her bed, leaned down and kissed her.

"What was that for?" she asked.

"Just because."

[] []

Later that day, after taking a walk around the entire maternity ward, Kate was back in her rom flipping through channels on TV, trying to find something to watch besides soap operas and cheesy talk shows. Finally, after passing the same show for the tenth time, Kate groaned and dropped to remote onto the bed and watched it bounce a few times before just sitting there. She pushed her hair out of her face and heard someone knock on the door to her room. She knew it wasn't Castle (he had gone home to take a shower and check on things on the home front) or one of her doctors or nurses; they would have just opened the door and started talking as if nothing was wrong.

"Come in," she said, pushing up on her hands to sit up a little bit more.

"Can we come in for a visit?" Evelyn Montgomery asked, sticking her head through the door.

"Of course you can," Kate said smiling. Evelyn and two of her three kids, the youngest two: Kimberly and Tyson, came in with gift bags and balloons.

It had been nearly a year since Kate had spoken to anyone from the Montgomery family. The kids had gotten so big and weren't really little kids anymore.

"How are you?" Kate asked, specifically to the kids who were still standing near the door, a little bit intimidated of being in the hospital.

"Good," Kim said smiling. She moved further into the room, finally getting a little more comfortable. She stood next to her mom, leaving her little brother behind.

"How's Cierra doing? Liking college?" Kate asked about the eldest Montgomery child who was in her sophomore year of college at an art institute in Seattle of all places.

"She loves it. Said, last time she called, she wanted to stay there all year long," Evelyn said with a laugh. Kate smiled. She remembered being like that: living on her own in a different city, making friends, creating a life for herself without mom and dad.

"What's that for?" nine year old Tyson asked pointing at the IV stand sitting in a corner of the room.

"It's to give people medicine," Kate explained to the kid.

"Do you have to take medicine?"

"Not anymore, no I don't."

"If you don't need it, why is it here?"

"The doctors leave it in here as a precaution. It's here just in case I do need it, they won't have to go looking everywhere for it, because it's already here," Kate said holing out her hand to the boy. He took it and Kate pulled him onto the bed next to her and hugged him close.

He was the spitting image of his father, had the same smile and the same curiosity his dad did, it made Kate miss her old captain a little more than she already did.

The fourth grader was running his hands over Kate's stomach. Kate placed his hand in one spot and watched his face light up when he felt one of the babies kick his hand.

"Cool, huh?" Kate asked him. He nodded, his hand not moving. Kate continued her conversation with the other girls, leaving the boy to play with the babies.

After a while Tyson spoke up again. "My mom says you're here because your babies are sick and need to take medicine to get better before they can go home."

Evelyn covers a laugh with her hand.

"Your mom is right," Kate says. "I'm here because the doctors want to watch me closely until the babies are born because when they are born, they will be very little and will need help from the doctors until they are big enough to come home."

"Can I come see them when they come home?" Tyson was so sweet.

"Of course you can," Kate said hugging the boy again. "You and your sisters and mom and come anytime you want," Kate looked over Tyson's head at his mom who winked at her.

"Come on," Evelyn said taking her son's hand and waving at her daughter, who was exploring the hospital room. "It's time for us to leave. Kids, say goodbye to Kate."

Tyson came back over for one last hug, while his sister just waved and said good bye, before steering her brother out.

"Bye guys, I'll talk to you later," Kate said to the kids who weren't even listening. "Bye," she said to Evelyn, who had stopped at the door to say goodbye one last time.

"Call me if you need anything, ok? Even if it is just to talk,' the older woman said to her friend.

"I will," Kate said. Evelyn nodded, smiled and then left, closing the door behind her.

Kate ran a hand over her stomach before grabbing the notebook with the lists opf baby names off of the table and added one to the list of girls names. She made sure to circle it as this was one she felt very confident in knowing that Castle would love it just as much as she did.

[] []

"Evelyn Montgomery and her kids can too see me today while you were gone," Kate said to Castle over the Chinese food he had brought back with him.

"Oh really? How are they?"

"They're good. Cierra loves living away from home. Her mom told me Cierra told her she wants to live out there all year." Castle laughed; he too knew what it was like to be away from home, how great it was. "Kim and Tyson have gotten so big," Kate said through a bite of fried rice. "Can you believe Kim is already in high school? I mean wasn't it yesterday she was that little girl who begged me to play baby dolls with her? And now she's in high school. How does that happen?"

Castle laughed and shook his head. He didn't have as deep a relationship with the Montgomery family as Kate did, but he knew what she meant, he felt the same way when Alexis was graduating from high school. "It's crazy," he said, agreeing with his wife.

"Oh and i think I found the perfect name for one of our girls," Kate said, handing Castle the notebook. He flipped through the pages, finally finding the page with the name that Kate had circled.

"Isn't that Kim's middle name?" He asked about the middle Montgomery child.

"It is. I think it's a pretty good middle name."

He studied it for a minute before taking the pen that was always inside the notebook and re-wrote the name on a blank page along with another name: a first and a middle name, the only things written on the clean page.

He handed back the notebook and watched Kate read what he had written.

"You think?" she asked, her brow furrowing for a minute as she asked the question.

"I like it," Castle said shrugging.

Kate smiled and nodded. "Me too."

One down, four to go.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N- And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...will start after this quick message from our sponsors.**

**So this chapter was approved by both my sister (who I hope is reading this right now) and the pre-school class I'm working with this summer, so if they like it, I'm hoping you guys will too.**

**Enjoy! **

* * *

January-28 weeks pregnant

Six pages. All of which were full to bursting with column after column of name ideas. Some were crossed out because they were either stupid or disliked by both parties involved. So being the 'Type A' person that she was, Kate ripped out a couple of pages from the notebook and consolidated the lists, leaving out the names that were crossed out, and crossing out a few more that she realized were not the right choice for her children.

Forty-five minutes later, the six pages were now down to three-front and back.

They had picked one name already: Miyana Cyan. Kate didn't even know where Castle got the idea for the first name. It was so different, so unlike him. But, yet, it was perfect. Not conventional, not 'cookie cutter,' she didn't know how to explain it other than it was just right; it felt right. So why was it that the other four were this difficult to pick?

Kate groaned loudly and tossed the notebook onto the bed next to her where it kept moving and hit the linoleum floor with a _thud. _She didn't feel motivated enough to get up and grab it, so she just stared down at the notebook as if it were to grow legs and jump back on the bed.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Kate laughed and rolled her eyes. How does he always know when to come out with those annoyingly snarky comments?

"How did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Come up with a name for Alexis. I mean naming a kid is a lot of pressure. They have to live with that name for the rest of their lives. It's scary."

"How did your parents name you?" He knew the answer to that question. She had told that story countless time to him in the middle of the night when he couldn't sleep and needed her voice to calm the voices in his head.

"They named me after Katherine Hepburn. She was my mom's favorite actress and my dad was secretly in love with her. They kind of just knew it was right. My dad said that the first time he heard my name, he couldn't think of calling me anything else." Kate smiled at the memory; it made her miss her mom, but just a little bit. Kate knew her mom was smiling down at her and probably having a field day over all of the crazy shit that she and Rick have been through together.

"Well then, that's what we have to do. We have to get to the point where the name we pick is something you wouldn't think of on any other child, except ours."

Ant that is just what they did: they went down every list trying out each name and a combination of middle name and eliminating the ones they knew wouldn't fit.

They crossed off name like: Caleb, Connor, Carlie, Catelyn, Kaden, Kelsey, Cody; they didn't want their child to have an alliterative sounding name. It was just too much for Rick and Kate to handle. Even Kate didn't change her last name to Castle when they got married; she's still Detective Katherine Beckett, the only place her name is Katherine Castle is on their marriage license, which is never to see the light of day.

"What about Damien?" Kate asked looking at a name on the list. Kate knew Rick had put it on their as a remembrance of his friend for school, did he really want to have that memory around him all the time because of a name they picked for their son?

"I don't know," his voice had gone soft. It was still a sore topic for him and Kate didn't press the mater.

"I'll put it on the list," she said smiling slightly. She added the name to their new 'maybe' page before looking back to the other list of names.

"Hey Kate," Castle started after a long while of silence passed between them.

"Hmmm?"

"What was your mom's middle name?"

"Beth, why?"

"That's short for Elizabeth, right?"

"I mean I guess it could be, but it was actually my great grandmother's name. Again I ask, why?"

"Because, look," he had written down a name in the margin of one of the scribbled on, slightly ripped pages of paper. It was the name Elizabeth next to a name Kate had forgotten she put on the list.

It was when she was at home on bed rest and was bored out of her mind. She knew that Alexis' middle name came from an author of a famous novel, so Kate looked through the filled bookshelves in Castle's loft until she found the section full of classic novels. Everything from _Little Women_ and _To kill a Mocking Bird_ to _Sherlock Holmes_ and _Little House on the Prairie_ were there, but what peaked Kate's interest was a tattered green cover stuck into the end of a shelf as if it were a last minute addition and there was no other room to put it somewhere nicer than crammed into an already full shelf. Kate had pulled it, careful not to cause further damage to the already well loved book and took it back to the couch wither her.

Mark Twain's _Huckleberry Finn_ was a book Kate had read in high school and hated with a passion, but when she read it in college for her Sophomore English class, she discovered that the book she had hated as a sixteen year old junior in high school held so much more meaning to her almost twenty year old Sophomore in college self. Kate had thought that maybe naming one of their babies after an author, like their big sister and father, would be a nice tradition in their family.

She added both 'Mark' and 'Twain' to the list, but later crossed them off after realizing that both names were just a little _too_ different for her and aslo: how many kids do you know with the name 'Twain?'

She had studied the title for a long while and finally it hit her, as if it were right in front of her this entire time, but she had walk right past it. _Huckleberry Finn._ Finn. It was perfect. Kate could see a little girl named Finn, with coppery red hair, just like her mom, running around the house chasing after her brothers and sisters.

"Is it really that bad?" Castle asked after Kate had been quiet for a long while.

"No, no of course not. It's a great name. Sorry I was just lost in my thoughts."

"So, what do you think?"

"Finn Elizabeth Castle," Kate said the name out loud to get the feel of it on her lips and tongue. She smiled, "I think it's perfect."

Castle let out a sigh of relief, he thought Kate would hate the idea of giving their daughter her dead grandmother's middle name, but he was wrong. It was the perfect homage, it kept Johanna's memory alive, but it wasn't her exact name.

"Ok how about we do one of the boys," Kate said, putting the page she had been writing on to the top of her pile.

"Alright, what do you got? Hit me." Kate giggled; sometimes he was such a weirdo. "Liam."

Castle's brow furrowed. It wasn't that he didn't like the name; on the contrary, he liked it a lot, he just didn't know Kate had thought of it.

When Kate got pregnant she could picture a little brown hair, blue eyed, dimpled cheeked boy named Liam who was just as creative and childish as his daddy. That name had stuck with her though her entire pregnancy.

"Liam what?" Castle was right; they needed to fine the perfect middle name.

Kate thought about how the other two names they had chosen had meaning full middle names: Cyan came from Kim Montgomery and Elizabeth was after her mom. Liam needed a name with meaning.

Roy.

Whoa! Where did that come from?

Well Roy Montgomery was her boss and friend for almost a decade. He had taught her a lot of valuable skills about being a cop and being a person. He was someone who, when looking at her son's name, she wouldn't feel bad about seeing. It was a strong name and one that held meaning to her and to Castle.

She wrote the name on paper. Liam Roy Castle. It was cute and had meaning and wouldn't get her son beat up on the playground.

Kate turned the page around the show Castle, just as her phone rang.

Castle studied the name on the piece of notebook paper. He said it in his mind and again out loud. He knew the meaning behind it and he just knew. Just like when he came up with Miyana's name, he just knew it was right.

"Well that was Lanie," Kate said locking her phone after her short conversation with her best friend. "She's coming over with Javi and with food."

"So we need to get this done before they come," Castle said checking his watch. They had about twenty minutes, give or take, to finish picking name before their friends got there.

"My thought exactly."

Two of the girls and one of the boys had a name; one girl and one boy were left. Castle and Beckett let silence fall between them for a few minutes.

There was one girl's name that both Rick and Kate agreed on and loved. It had been on the list sic the day they found out the sexes of the babies. It had been circled and starred and underlined so many times it was getting hard to read it, but they knew what it said.

Danielle.

There was no rhyme or reason as to why it was there or how both of them agreed on it, but there it was, written in Castle's handwriting in blue pen.

They had a first name, now all they needed was a middle name. they tried out different combination, some worked better than others.

"What about 'James'?" Kate had asked after the fifteenth combination was a bust.

"Like you dad?" Castle asked, trying to figure out Kate's reasoning behind the name.

"Or Patterson," Kate said thinking of Castle poker buddy.

Writer. Of course! Kate wanted to make sure their kids names had meaning and so far they were keeping with the tradition, why stop now? The name 'James' had meaning: it was Kate's dad's name and it was the name of a good friend of the family and of a New York Time's best-selling author.

Danielle James, a name both mom and dad agree on and it has meaning. Perfect.

"I like it," Castle said.

One name left, how hard could it be?

"Austin," it had been one of the first names Kate had put onto the list. Who doesn't love a good Jane Austen novel? And books had been an integral part of her relationship with Castle. It's something that brings them together.

"Austin Michael." Kate didn't even need help on her son's name, it just came to her. Michael, like Royce.

He, like Roy Montgomery, was someone who had been a boss and friend to Kate Beckett. Someone who knew from the beginning, like a lot of other people, that Castle and Beckett liked each other, even before they were ready to admit it themselves. Kate felt like Royce, like Montgomery, was someone who meant something to her family and needed to be remembered.

A name with meaning. It was perfect.

"Is that it?" Castle asked as Kate wrote the last name down on the final list.

"That's it." Kate took his hand and squeezed it. They were done. Their babies had names. They were finally starting to become people, part of a family, not just grey blobs on an ultrasound machine.

And just in time too because not a second later Lanie and Esposito burst through the door, take-out bags of Chinese food in their arms.

Over dinner, Castle and Beckett showed their friends the list, which they fell in love with, and a few text messages later, every one of their family and friends knew the names of the five Castle monkeys: Danielle James, Liam Roy, Miyana Cyan, Austin Michael and Finn Elizabeth.

* * *

**A/N- and on a completely un-related note: this story hit 100 reviews! I thank you all SO much for your love and support and even though I don't reply to reviews, like I'm supposed too, just know that I read EVERY one and know that you are loved (even you-yes, you. the one in the purple footie pajamas eating melted ice cream. I love you man!).**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N- So this chapter and parts of the next one were actually one of the first chapters I ever wrote for this story. They have been sitting on my computer waiting to be posted. They've changed a little since their original incarnation, but they generally stayed the same.**

**I have to warn you though: they were written LONG before Watershed was even in creation, so just keep that in mind.**

**Italics=flashback**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

February-30 weeks pregnant

Richard Castle sat in his office, some reality television show on in the background. He was lonely, bored, and cold. He missed his wife more now than ever. It was nights like these when he wished she didn't have to be in the hospital.

He had been sent home hours ago so that Kate could actually get some kind of sleep, insomnia wreaking havoc on her body for the past week. The loft was dark and cold, even with all the lights on.

He'd kept busy for a while paying bills and doing a few loads of laundry. He made a mental note to put a new shirt of his in the bag before he left again for the hospital tomorrow, as per request from Kate.

He had beat his new 'Angry Birds' game and was now looking through all of the photos on his phone.

He never realized how many pictures he had actually taken. There were a lot. More recently pictures of the babies and of Kate's growing stomach. He had taken a picture of her belly every week since they found out she was pregnant and looking at them all side-by-side one could see the progression of her pregnancy.

He thought she looked gorgeous, but she wouldn't believe him.

[] []

_Kate stood by the only blank wall in their bedroom in only her bra and panties. Why her husband insisted on taking this pictures of her half naked, she still didn't know but she humored him nonetheless. _

"_Ok, hold still," he said his phone hiding his face. She popped her hip out and sat on it, out of spite. "Kate! I'm serious. I want these to be nice," he whined. Such a man-child. She stuck her tongue out at him and stood up straight like he had asked._

_Rick snapped the picture and smiled. "Ok now turn sideways," he directed. Kate turned so that the picture would show the profile of her face and show the development of her 'baby bump.' _

_The camera clicked and Rick dropped the phone to his side. He stood there staring at her. Her long legs that rival Angelina's. The curve of her growing stomach. Her black lacy bra. The sharp lines of her jaw. Her light pink lips. Her beautiful eyes, colored green in the light. The way her hair curled slightly at the bottom, framing her face perfectly._

_Oh. My. God._

_He was completely, totally and madly in love with her._

_He wanted to take her right now, against the wall._

"_Staring is creepy, Castle," Kate said laughing, pulling him from his thoughts. She had slipped one of his dress shirts on and was sitting on the black leather chairs in the corner of their room. He stepped closer to her, taking her hands and pulling her to a standing position._

"_You know you love it," he smiled. She rolled her eyes._

_It was true. She did love it when he stared. Not that she would tell him that. _

_He wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her in for a long, mind-numbing kiss._

_She pulled back, her head spinning._

_Wow._

_She slowly un-did the buttons of her shirt, giving him more to stare at._

_[] []_

Rick smiled, going further back into his photo album. He found the picture he was looking for but went past it.

Ah! Go back! Go back!

Finally he stopped at the picture.

It was of him and Kate. She was sitting on the swings on _their _park wearing a floral print sundress. Her smile stretched from ear to ear and her eyes were a bright grass green. He had his arms wrapped around her shoulders. His eyes were closed and he was kissing her temple.

He remembered the night like it was yesterday.

[] []

_He rang the doorbell and stepped back. He stood on the porch wringing his hands. The butterflies in his stomach were playing rock music._

_The door clicked open and Jim Beckett looked at him quizzically._

"_Rick, come in," he said opening the door further. He stepped in the house and shed his coat and shoes, putting them neatly by the door._

"_Want something to drink?" Jim asked_

"_Yea, thanks," he said nervously. He took a slow breath to slow his racing heart, but even after that he could still hear it in his ears._

_Jim returned with two glasses, he handed one to Rick and pulled out a chair at the kitchen table._

_He followed suit, thankful that under the table Jim couldn't see his shaking leg. He held the glass up to his mouth, his hands shaking._

_Come on Rick, get it together._

_He took another breath gearing up the courage and the balls to ask his girlfriend's dad the most important question asked by a boyfriend._

"_Jim, I….I had a question for you," he stammered._

_Smooth, real smooth writer-boy._

"_I was wondering if I could have your permission to ask Kate to marry me," he said._

_He pulled the ring out of his pocket and opened the box. He slid it across the table to his girlfriend's still silent father._

_Jim picked the ring up and studied it. Still silent._

"_Rick," Jim began. "Ever since you started shadowing Katie, you have improved her life. It used to be when I saw her; she put on a happy face. Tried to look happy for my benefit. But after you joined her team, her smile became real. She was happier and was starting to come out of the protective shell she created after her mother passed away. You helped her get passed that tragedy and find justice for her and Johanna. I've always wanted her to be happy and _you_ did that for her."_

"_So, is that a yes?" he asked. He knew that everything Jim had said was one hundred percent true. He loved being the person to break down the wall around Kate's heart. Loved being the one she trusted and could confide in (next to Lanie and the boys). Loved seeing her smile. Big and wide. One only for him._

"_Rick, I would love for you to become a part on my family. Yes, Rick, I give you my blessing and permission to marry my daughter. Just promise me one thing," Jim said._

"_What's that?"_

"_Don't hurt her. She had more than enough hurt for one person's lifetime."_

"_Don't worry I won't."_

_His heart was still pounding. He was surprised. That whole conversation went better than the scenarios he had played out in his head._

_[] []_

He turned on his side, under the covers, and listened to his phone ring.

"Hello?" she asked, her voice sleepy.

"Hey. I didn't wake you up, did I?" he asked slightly scared. She needed all the sleep she could get, especially now.

"No, no. I'm just tired," she said.

"Good. How are the kids?"

"Running wild. I've already had to put two of them in time-out," Kate said laughing.

"Well don't worry, I'll be home soon and set those kids in line," he smiled. "I miss you," he said softly.

"Me too," she said. "Listen, go to sleep and I'll see you in the morning," she said her voice soft and soothing, like a mother.

"I don't know if I'll be able to sleep," he said.

"Try. I will if you will." Kate knew about his bouts of insomnia. How some nights he never came to bed, his mind racing too fast, rendering him unable to sleep.

"Ok," Rick finally lamented. "Goodnight. I love you Kate," he said.

"I love you too. Now go to bed," she said. He could picture her eyes narrowing at him, like a mother to a very active two year old.

He hung up and rolled over. He closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep.

[] []

_One week later_

_Okay, he was going to do it tonight. He had everything planned. The ring was in his pocket, the food was ready to eat now all he had to do was plant the bait and let the animal step into his trap._

_He set the coffee cup on her desk, like he did every morning and left with the excuse of needing to write or risk the wrath of Gina._

_Hours later he paced the sand by the swings._

_Where was she?_

_The time on the note specifically said 6:30._

_He was getting anxious._

_His head shot up when he heard heels clicking on the concrete._

_She rounded the corner and entered the park. Her dress was floral and girlie, a total 180 from the Kate Beckett he saw in the precinct: all tough and serious. Here she was just Kate. No titles, no walls. It ended just above her knee and fit her body like a glove, showing off her lovely curves. She had simple wedges on instead of the spiked heels she wore at work._

_Her olive skin was glowing and she was smiling. It was a ghost of a smile, reserved for him and only him._

_Holly crap._

"_Hey you" she said wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him light and soft. _

_He smiled and took her hand. He led them to the blanket laid out for them, under the stars._

"_Sit," he said. She smiled again and sat down curling her legs under her._

_His head spun and he went weak at the knees._

_Oh yea, he was doing it tonight._


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N- just wanted to remind you that parts of this chapter was written before 'Watershed,' keep it in mind. Don't hurt too hard on my in your reviews.**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Castle, nor am I a doctor so any medical inaccuracies you see are all mine. I try my best.**

**Italics=Flashback **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

She ran a hand over her stomach, the skin pulled tight. Her muscles tightened and another contraction hit her. She had been contracting nonstop for the past week. They sucked, but were not a big deal. Apparently it was a common thing.

She took another sip of water, the only thing she could drink without getting sick, set the bottle back on her bedside table and grabbed her memory box.

She ran her thumb over the picture of her mom and dad on the lid and opened the box. She pulled out her mom's ring and her dad's watch holding them to her heart for a minute. She took out an envelope full of pictures; some of her and her mom, some of her and friends, most of her and Rick. On the very bottom of the box were three things. The first was a woven bracelet Lanie had given her when she came back the summer after she and Castle had officially gotten together.

[] []

"_Here, this is for you," Lanie said handing her a purple beaded woven bracelet. It was Kate's first time back in the morgue since she returned from her summer break. Of course she had talked to her best friend during her suspension, but this was the first time all summer they had talked face to face._

"_Thanks, Lanie," she said pulling the ME in for a hug. Lanie tied the bracelet onto her tiny wrist and stepped back._

_Beckett looked different. Something about her changed over the summer and Lanie didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad one._

"_It's a wish bracelet," the ME began. "You make a wish and when it falls off your wish will come true." She laughed as Beckett rolled her eyes. "If you don't believe me, make a wish and see if it comes true." Lanie said narrowing her eyes and giving her friend on her many looks._

"_What do have for the body?" Kate said not giving into her friend's 'Jedi mind tricks.'_

_[] []_

The other was a dried flower from her bouquet from her wedding.

[] []

_The music started, the doors were open. She took a calming breath before taking her bouquet from Lanie, her maid of honor. The purple and white flowers putting the girlie touch in the summer wedding. She breathed in the smell, like sun and the scent of the air right after a big rain storm._

_She watched the flower girls walk down the aisle followed by the little ring bearer. Her bride's maids went next, escorted by the groom's men. Lanie goes right in front of her, and that's when the butterflies start. She breaths again, catching her dad's eye as she slowly walks down the aisle. _

_She doesn't look at Castle; if she does she will cry for sure. She kept her eyes front, staring at the stained glass window right above the minister._

[] []

The last thing was an old, crinkled, folded piece of paper.

She smiled as she un-folded it again and read the sloppy sprawled hand writing on the note.

[] []

_The coffee cup she found on her desk was still warm when she returned from printing off some files. She picked it up and held it in her hands for a minute. She went to take a sip but was stopped by a folded piece of paper covering the hole._

_She set the cup back down and removed the paper, held on by a piece of tape._

Meet me at the park. 6:30. Don't be late.

R.A.R

_It wasn't signed just initialed at the bottom, but Kate had a pretty good idea of who it was from._

_She drank down the coffee (grande skim late, two pumps sugar free vanilla) and returned to the case at hand._

_Five o'clock came around quicker than she expected. She quickly scribbled down information on the murder board and capped the pen._

"_Hey, Ryan!" she called to her partner. "I'm gonna head out early, you good on your own?"_

"_Uh, yea, sure," the Irish detective was unsure of what to think; Beckett never left early._

"_Cool, thanks," she smiled, grabbed her coat and purse and sped walked to the elevator._

_If she hurried she would have just enough time to go home and change._

_She was late. Stupid traffic. She hurried along the sidewalk as fast as she could, stopping just short of the entrance to the park. She fixed her frazzled hair and straightened her dress before walking calmly through the gate. She found her boyfriend standing by the swings._

"_Hey you," she said wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him light and soft. _

_He smiled and took her hand. He led them to the blanket laid out for them, under the stars._

"_Sit," he said. She smiled again and sat down curling her legs under her. He began pulling food out of the picnic basket, and smiled as Kate began laughing._

"_Peanut butter and jelly?" she asked, noting the unusual dinner choice._

"_Is that bad?" He asked, looking up, his eyes wide with shock._

"_No, no it's fine. Just different I guess." She said taking a bit out of her sandwich. It was really good. Gotta give props to Richard Castle, he knew how to make a mean PB&J._

_They ate and made small talk until all of the food was eaten. Castle had even brought those little cups of chocolate pudding for them as desert. _

"_Wanna swing?" He asked, cleaning up their trash._

_She smiled and nodded, standing up, a mischievous look in her eyes. "Last one there is a rotten egg!" she called racing over to the swings, letting her inner child out._

_Castle laughed, racing after her. He caught up to her and grabbed her around her waist. He spun around, making Kate squeal and laugh. He set her down and she sat down on her swing, the one on the left. Castle went around the swing and began slowly pushing her._

_The sun had finally set and the air had taken on a slight chill. Castle could feel the goose-bumps on Kate's arms and knew if he was going to ask her, it would have to be soon._

_He took a breath, and caught the swing, stopping the motion._

"_What are you doing," Kate asked as he came around to look at her._

"_You know I love you right?" he asked, taking her hands._

_She nods, a little confused._

"_And you know I wouldn't do anything to hurt you right?"_

"_Castle what's going on?" now she was scared, something was up._

"_Kate when I first met you something changed in me. I wanted to make you like me for me, not the Page Six playboy that everyone perceived me to be. What I didn't expect was how much we both have changed over the years. I've seen you grow up and watched as you let your walls down. You let me into your life, into your family. I never want to lose you like I almost did a few years ago." He sank down into a kneel and pulled out the ring box. She gasped and tears came into her eyes. "Katherine Houghton Beckett, will you marry me?" he asked opening the box to reveal the ring. _

"_Yes," she said. It was barely a whisper, but she knew he heard her when the ring was slipped onto her finger. She wiped away he few tears that had fallen down her cheeks, sniffling a little._

_The ring was gorgeous: a simple silver band with three small diamonds across it. Nothing too flashy, because Kate Beckett wasn't a flashy person, it was just perfect._

_Castle stood and pulled Kate in for a kiss. She was still crying, but not because she was scared or sad, these were tears of joy._

"_I thought you were breaking up with me," she said once they had pulled back._

_He laughed and kissed her again. "I'm glad you didn't see it coming. I didn't want you to know."_

"_Well you got me," she said looking down at her ring._

"_Do you like it?" he asked, taking her hand._

"_I love it," she said, pulling the swing up behind her and sitting down again. She was still smiling, couldn't help it and didn't care. As the swing came closer to him, Castle grabbed the chain and stole a kiss from his fiancé. Wow that was weird to say. _

_He walks behind her and stops the swing again. He wraps his arms around her shoulders and holds out his cell phone. _

_She cringes at the sight of the camera._

"_Do we really have too?" she asks._

"_Yes we do, so smile," he orders. She sighs loudly but smiles nonetheless. He whispers a count of three into her ear before smiling himself and taking the picture. He kisses her temple before taking her hand and leading her back to their picnic. _

_They pack up all of their stuff, making sure to throw away their trash. They leave the park and walk down the block a little to catch an empty cab. He tells the drive where to go and settles into the seat._

_He lays a hand on her leg, just above her knee. Not to mean anything, just to ease his mind that she's sitting next to him, a physical reminder of what happened that night._

_She puts her hand over his, and leans her head against his shoulder. He puts a kiss into her hair._

"_I love you," he whispers, just loud enough for her to hear._

"_I love you too."_

_[] []_

The alarm on her IV was beeping and a nurse came in to check on her. It was a different nurse than she was used too, or it was the same nurse she's had since she checked in to the hospital, she's had way too many nurses handling her care that she lost track.

"Looks like your temperature is down, Kate; the medication we gave you seems to be working. We're still going to keep you under close observation, just to be sure."

The previous evening Kate had spiked a small fever and later found out she had strep throat. It was a mild case, and according to the doctors, had probably been in her system for a few weeks, only choosing now to rear its head. Kate had been given anti-biodics to get rid of the infection.

She was glad she was getting better. She didn't want to be sick during the final stages of her pregnancy. It sucked already.

To be perfectly honest, Kate was done being pregnant. Everything hurt, she couldn't move farther than the bathroom, and even that was work; and more than anything, she was just done. She wanted to meet her kids and have them here and be able to sleep at home, in her own bed.

Kate shifts a little in bed, trying to get comfortable again. She tahes another drink of water and not a second later, one of the monitors covering the babies starts to beep unnaturally.

Kate's heart quickens and her nerves kick up. She quickly, repeatedly presses the call button for the nurses' station. The nurse came back in the room.

"Something's wrong," Kate said. She was scared. Something wasn't right.

The nurse checked the monitor and adjusted the probe over Kate's belly.

"His heart rate dropped a little bit, but we're still ok. We'll start to worry if get gets down to ninety," she said pointing out the numbers on Liam's monitor.

Kate nodded and took a deep breath. Everything was ok. The doctors were watching her and her babies and they would act if something were to go wrong.

"Try and get some sleep. I'll come check on you later," the nurse said smiling. She turned off the light and left the room. The door never clicked shut, meaning someone had come into the room at the same time the nurse left.

"What's wrong?" Castle asked re-claiming his seat by the window.

"Liam's heart rate dropped. The nurse said that it was ok but that we would have to watch him and make sure it doesn't go any lower than ninety." Castle nodded. He could see Kate was scared, he was too. If they didn't catch it fast enough, Liam's life and the life of his brothers and sisters and mom could be in jeopardy.

Kate rolled over on her side, facing away from Castle and the window, where the lights from the city still seeped in, even with the blinds closed.

"Will you rub my back?" she asked.

"Sure." He moved off the chair and perched himself on the edge of Kate's bed. He rubbed her back and hoped her breathing would even out and she would finally fall asleep.

Sleep never happened for either of the expectant parents. They would doze off for a few minutes at a time, but never for multiple hours. There was no way to get a full night sleep in the hospital; especially with nurses coming in every half hour to check on Kate and the babies.

Liam's heart rate kept fluctuating. It would be fine one minute and the next it would drop by ten or twenty beats per minute. It was a scary and long night and by six the next morning, after Liam's heart dropped again, this time lower than it had been all night, they knew it was time.

[] []

"So Dr. Lee is in on an emergency C-Section and the other OR is being used for a women having twins, so once Dr. Lee is done and we get everything together and cleaned up it will be your turn," Kate's main 'day' nurse, Esmeralda, said to her.

It was now eight in the morning. They were going to be parents by days end.

"So what I suggest," the nurse said as she fiddled with Kate's IV and typed some things into the computer, "is that you call all of your family and friends, let them know what's happening and that it's go time.

The nurse left and the room was quiet for the first time all night.

"You ready, daddy?" Kate asked taking her husband's hand and smiling at him.

He smiled and nodded. Kate wasn't worried that Castle wasn't talking, she knew he had to deal with the events happening all at once in his own way; and if that meant he was quiet for a little while, then so be it.

"Come on, let's call everyone. I know they would want to be here for this," Kate said smiling, picking her phone off the table.

She called Ryan and Esposito first. She knew they were at work by now, but didn't know if they had caught a case or anything like that.

"Hey, can you talk?" she asked once Ryan had answered his phone.

"Yea, just doing paper work," Ryan said setting the phone on the desk next to him so he could talk and work at the same time. He put it on speaker so Esposito could also listen in.

"Ok good, you're not doing anything important," Kate joked. They all loathed doing paperwork and took any excuse to get away from it.

"Oh I wouldn't go that far. The annual 'Precinct Review' is coming up and Gates is cracking down harder than usual. Yesterday she yelled at Karpowski for using a purple pen instead of a black one on her paperwork."

"God, I am so sorry," Kate was glad it wasn't her being yelled at by her captain, but she did feel bad for her friends.

"It's ok, just part of the job, I guess."

Kate laughed, she loved how hard Ryan tried to stay positive and not let horrid things like paperwork and hard-ass captain's get in the way of how he felt.

"So, I guess that means she won't let you sneak away for a few hours?"

"She probably wouldn't, unless it was really important."

"Well I would think that the birth of your nieces and nephews is pretty important"

"Really,"Ryan asked, setting his pen on the desk.

"Yes really. It's happening today, and I really want you guys to be here."

"We'll be there," both boys said before the phone line went dead.

Kate pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at her background. "Well ok then," she said_._

She looked through her phone book for Lanie's cell phone number and pressed 'call.' Kate knew she wouldn't answer after Esposito told her, in a text message conversation last night, proved that the ME was on call all night and would probably be sleeping all day. Sure enough no one answered and the answering machine picked up.

"Hey Lanie, it's me. I know you're asleep but I just wanted to let you know that they are taking me to surgery soon to have the babies, and I really wanted you to be here. Anyway, call me back when you can. Bye," Kate hung up, a little upset that she couldn't get a hold of her best friend.

Castle had already called his mother and Alexis, and they were on their way. They boys were coming, and hopefully Lanie too, if someone could get a hold of her. The only one who hadn't been notified was Kate's dad.

Kate tried his cell phone first, but got no answer so she called his office and was connected to his secretary who told Kate that her father was in a meeting and that she would give him Kate's message as soon as he got out.

"Is your dad coming?" Castle asked her once Kate had hung up her call to her dad's office.

"He's in a meeting. He'll be here," she didn't know weather she said that to reassure herself or her husband. Maybe a little of both.

[] []

Half hour later, people started arriving. Martha and Alexis came first. Alexis was at school when her dad called and her grandmother was kind enough to go and pick up her granddaughter. There were hugs all around and Martha was already crying.

"Don't cry, you're going to make me cry," Kate said wiping at the tears already forming in her eyes.

"Trust me darling, we are all going to be crying come day's end," Martha said taking Kate's hand a giving it a squeeze.

"Hey, hey!" Ryan hollered, announcing his presence.

"Hey!" Kate said when her friend appeared from around the curtain that was drawn for privacy as the door was held open because of the constant stream of people coming in and out of the room, having the door open made things easier.

"I invited Jenny, hope that's alright," Ryan said coming into the room and giving Castle a one armed hug, his wife right behind him.

"Of course it's alright," Kate said sitting up to hug her friends.

"Hey mama, how are you?" Jenny asked as she hugged Kate.

"I'm good, I'm good," Kate said smiling.

"Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be. I'm starting to get nervous though," she confided.

"You're not nervous, you are just really, really excited," Kate smiled and shook her head. Those were the exact same words she told Jenny when Grace was born. She had been in labor for hours and was in desperate need of a light at the end of the tunnel.

"I know, but-," Kate didn't need to finish, Jenny knew.

"Hey you guys made it!" Ryan's voice made both Kate and Jenny turn.

Esposito and Lanie came into the room, accepting hugs from all of their friends.

In the two minutes between when his and Ryan's call with Beckett ended and when Kate tried calling Lanie, Esposito had called his girlfriend and offered to pick her up and drive her to the hospital. Lanie was in the bathroom, and didn't hear her phone ring when Kate called.

"I am so glad you are here," Kate said when Lanie came over to her for a hug.

"Where else would I be?" Lanie asked. They were best friends; Lanie wouldn't want to be anywhere else, but here at the hospital with Kate.

That did it. Hearing Lanie say that finally made Kate cry. She tried to hide it, but apparently wasn't doing a good job because Jenny handed her a box of tissues.

"I hate to break up the party," the nurse began," but we need to get her prepped for surgery, so that means everyone needs to get out."

There was another round of hugs and everyone was gone.

Nurses were now fluttering around Kate's room getting her ready to go into surgery. They made sure her IV wasn't clogged and un-hooked her from the fetal monitors that had been Kate's constant companions for the past few days.

Castle helped the nurses get Kate out of bed and into a wheelchair. Once she was seated, they wheeled her out of her room and into the elevators. They rode down a few floors to the operating rooms and the butterflies in Kate's stomach reared their heads again.

Kate took a deep breath to calm her mind. Everything would be ok, she told herself, you're just excited.

She repeated that mantra in her mind until they came to the double doors to get onto the floor. The nurse called the secretary who buzzed them in and then told Kate and Rick that they had to say good-buy, at least for a few minutes. Castle needed to get changed and the doctors had to finish prepping Kate.

Rick kissed Kate's temple, cheek and lips. "I'll see you in a few minutes, Ok?" he told her.

She nodded and tried not to cry again. He kissed her one last time before the nurse wheeled Kate into the operating room and out of his sight.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N- (yes this is a re-post. if you've already read the chapter then i'm sorry) I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has followed this story since the beginning. I love and appreciate you all. Anyway, of the three chapters posted this week this was the one I was most worried about. Hopefully you all like it just as much as the others.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle, nor am I a doctor. I try my best.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The operating room was too bright, too white, too clean. It had a funny smell that made Kate's stomach churn. Everyone's voices bounced off the walls magnifying the sound by at least ten times its normal volume. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath, trying not to stay in her head, but in the present; the here and now.

The nurses helped her put of the wheelchair and onto the operating table. They moved around hanging up her IV, getting things ready for the surgery.

All the while the teams of doctors and nurses form the NICU were trickling in, getting their parts ready for when the five babies are born.

Kate and Rick had met the people from the intensive care unit a couple weeks ago. They were smart and responsible; Kate felt comfortable putting her children into their care. Not that she had much choice.

The anesthesiologist, Dr. Adams, a stout man with a goatee, chocolate brown eyes and a soft smile, had a couple nurses help Kate lean forward into their arms.

"Make sure your back is nice and round, it will make this go a lot faster and easier," the doctor said from where he stood behind Kate. He whipped down Kate's back, her spine exposed from the way she was sitting, with a solution to clean it off. He poked Kate's back with a needle full of anesthetic, hoping to numb her back a little before he put in the catheter for her spinal block. He stuck one more needle into Kate's back, one that she could feel going in. He fed the catheter into the needle, took the needle out, taped the catheter down and Kate's spinal block was done.

Kate laid down, and an oxygen mask was placed over her mouth and nose as her pulse ox had dropped a little and the anesthesiologist was a very cautious person.

"Where's Castle?" Kate asked, her voice muffled from the mask.

"He's coming, hon," One of the many nurses in the room, different than the one's she had had since arriving at the hospital, told her.

And sure enough, a minute later Castle came through the door and sat down on the stool by Kate's head.

He was wearing a surgical gown, like the doctors and nurses in the room, a cap over his hair and a mask.

He smiled at her and took her hand, squeezing it once.

Kate noticed Castle had his phone out, ready to take pictures and videos of their babies being born. She didn't even realize he had brought it down with him.

"Do you think we could fit another person in their room?" Castle asked looking around at the sheer numbers of people packed into the small operating room.

"We're gonna have too, Dr. Lee isn't here yet," Kate said. She had pulled her oxygen mask down so she could talk and be understood.

Speak of the devil; Dr. Lee came into the room, her hands freshly washed, not touching anything until she had gloves on.

"Sorry everyone," she said as a nurse helped tie a gown and mask on her. "I had to pee," everyone laughed, and the weight that was in the room for some un-known reason was lifted immediately.

"Rick, Kate, are you guys ready to meet these babies?" she asked looking over the drape that had been hung up between Kate's chest and her stomach.

"Always."

"Let's do this," they both spoke at the same time.

"Alright here we go," Kate could hear everything the doctors and nurses were saying, but she couldn't see a thing, and that irked her immensely. She was like a six year old kid in that respect: had to see everything, be a part of the action. "Mark the time: first incision at 9:17 a.m."

It was starting. No turning back now. Within the next ten minutes Kate would be a mother to five babies.

She squeezed Castle's hand and looked to him for support. He was almost as white as a sheet.

"Castle." She had to say his name three times to get him to finally look at her. "Breathe." She watched him take a few deep breaths and his color returned to normal.

It had hit him finally, all at once. How on Earth would he be able to manage raising five kids? The food, the toys, the clothes, the love. Would there be enough love to go around? Of course there would.

He didn't have a surefire plan of action, but there didn't always need to be a perfect plan. He and Kate would have to keep going, just like they did during her pregnancy: day by day. Take every day as it comes and try and learn from it.

It would be ok.

"I'm alright," he told Kate, standing up to get a better look.

"What do you see?" Kate asked, she needed to know.

"Not much, just-"

He was interrupted when Dr. Lee spoke up. "Making the uterine incision. Time?"

"9:19," a nurse said.

"Good, good," Dr. Lee said under her breath.

Kate felt pressure and tugging in her belly, but it didn't hurt. Thank god for drugs.

"Ok, Baby A is out, 9:20," Dr. Lee said, laying the newborn on a towel and suctioning out her nose and mouth. She held her up, over the drape, for her parents to see her before a nurse took her away.

Castle was snapping pictures left and right, trying to capture these moments for himself and Kate and their family and friends.

She cried, loud enough to be heard over the commotion in the room.

The baby's team of nurses were calling out dates, times and measures to be recorded, but Castle didn't hear any of it. He had sat back down next to Kate and had taken her hand. He was in a brief fog of shock and euphoria.

Kate was crying beside him; tears of happiness and relief, not of fear or sadness.

A nurse brought her over to mom and dad to say hello before being put into an incubator and taken out of the room.

Castle was only able to snap a quick picture, everything around him was happening so fast.

At 9:22, Baby B, Liam, was born. The same thing happened. The doctor suctioned out his mouth and nose before handing him of to his team. He, unlike his sister wasn't able to be shown to his mom and dad. He wasn't breathing very well on his own and had to be taken upstairs as fast as possible.

Kate squeezed Castle's hand. She was scared for her son.

9:24 a.m. the third of the quints, Miyana, was born. She was much more vocal than her two 'older' siblings. Her cry was louder, which was a good thing. More pictures, a few more tears.

9:26: the second of the twin boys, Austin, came out. He didn't cry so much as grunt and squeal. Castle and Beckett later found out that that was him trying to get air into his lungs.

Because of how early they were born, the quints' lungs weren't fully developed thus resulting in them trying harder than most to breathe and get enough oxygen. He, too, wasn't able to meet his parents, but luckily Castle had gotten a few stealth shots of him.

Finally at 9:28, almost a full ten minutes from when the surgery started, the fifth and final baby, the last girl, Finn, was born.

There was something really wrong with her because the remaining team of nurses and the last doctor form the NICU were moving around quickly and barking orders at each other.

"What's wrong?" Kate asked, lifting her hear, as that was as far as she could move.

"It's ok," Castle tried reassuring her, but inside his gut was swimming and he was scared shitless. "I'm going to go see what's up."

He came up to where his daughter lay, motionless and slightly blue. He got even more worried.

"What's happening?" he asked to the group working on his baby girl.

"You the dad?" a tough looking guy with five o'clock shadow and bright blue eyes asked him.

"Yes, I'm her father."

"She is not getting enough oxygen right now. I'm going to stick this tube down her throat to help to breathe better."

Castle nodded and turned back to Kate. He couldn't see that, couldn't stand to see the little girl laying there helpless, scared and hurt. It hurt him too much.

"So?" Kate asked when he came back.

"She's doing ok, they are helping her breathe better and are taking her upstairs with the others," he said. It wasn't a lie, the doctors were helping Finn to breathe better. At the moment Kate didn't need to know that her daughter had a tube down her throat, it would make her more upset than she needed to be.

While the doctor was cleaning Kate up, and Castle sat next to his wife, holding her hand again, Kate turned to him.

"Castle, go make sure they're alright. I don't want to leave them alone."

He nodded, she was alright. They were almost done with the surgery and he had five babies upstairs that needed to be checked on.

He kissed Kate's cheek before getting up and leaving the OR. He threw out his used gown, hat and the booties that went over his shoes, and pushed the call button for the elevator.

He had one stop to make before seeing the babies.

[] []

The group of family and friends had sat in the waiting room biting their nails, pacing the floor, their bodies full of excited-nervous energy. They were waiting for some sort of an update. They were notified when Kate was taken to surgery, but other than that they had heard nothing.

Jim Beckett, who had arrived not ten minutes after the friends had been kicked out of Kate's room, had finally stopped pacing the floor of the waiting room long enough to drink some of the coffee Martha had gotten for them all. From his seat, he could see the elevator bank perfectly. So when Rick Castle emerged, walking quickly and wiping at his eyes, he was the first to stand up and meet him halfway.

"Hey you made it!" Castle said, shaking his father-in-law's hand.

"Yea, I just barely missed you and Katie. How is she?"

By now the other's had seen the two men talking and came over to get news.

"She's doing good. When I left, they were almost done cleaning her up. I'm about to go check on the babies. Oh here," he took his phone out of his pocket, unlocked it and handed it over to his friends to look at the pictures he had taken.

They all cooed over them, Martha teared up at the first glimpse of her new grandchildren. Castle wrapped his mother in a hug, kissing her cheek. They stood there holding each other and crying silently. Tears of joy, not of sadness.

He broke the hug with is mom to give one to his oldest daughter.

She had been so good about all of this. She had come a long way from the sheer shock and terror of learning she was getting five younger brothers and sisters, to now being a supportive big sister and step-daughter and excited at the prospect of watching her sibling grow up and being able to play with them and teach them things.

Castle wiped the tears off his daughter's cheek. He kissed her forehead and gave her a sideways smile. She smiled back and her blue eyes sparked back at him.

"Hey I'm going to go and make sure the babies are alright. Kate should be back soon," he heard retreating replies as he walked back to the elevator.

When Alexis called to him about his forgotten phone, he made a mad dash back for it.

[] []

There was a sign hanging on the door to the NICU:

_All personnel MUST wash hands before entering._

Castle wondered how many people had broken that rule before it was necessary for the person in charge to post a notice about it.

So, not wanting to break the rules, at least not on his first visit there, Castle washed his hands and put on the pink gown that was on a shelf next to the door.

The clerk at the desk looked up and noticed Castle standing there, and buzzed him in.

It was like some high security Upper West-Side door manned apartment building or something.

"Hi, I'm Rick Castle," he said walking up to the desk and talking to the clerk who had granted him access. She looked up from over the glasses. She looked tired, frazzled and definitely not in the mood to talk to Rick Castle, best-selling author and proud new father.

"Mr. Castle!" a voice behind him called, he turned to meet face to face with a woman with brown hair, bright blue eyes and who was almost as tall and Castle himself, and she was wearing flat shoes. "I'm Janet Spence, the head Neonatologist."

Castle shook her hand. "Nice to meet you."

She had a kind smile, Castle liked that. He could tell she was trustworthy and good at what she did.

He couldn't help reading people; it was the writer in him.

"Let me show you where your kids are sleeping," she said turning and leading him to the third row of incubators and cribs. "Your babies are only the third set of quintuplets to be born here; you've been the talk of the floor for months now. Everyone wants in on the case. But unfortunately for them I don't let just anyone work a high profile case."

Oh yea, he was a best-selling author, whose wife just had quintuplets. This would probably be in the press by tomorrow. Great, exactly what he _didn't_ want.

The third spot down the right side of the row is where the five Castle babies started. They were placed caddy-corner from each other, in birth order.

Dr. Spence was already standing by Baby A, as the name tag on her incubator said. "Your kids will be taken care of by either me or Dr. Case," Dr. Spence said motioning to another doctor beside her.

The man had to be 6'6" or taller. He was big, muscular and Castle could tell he had played football in his day. He had dirty blonde hair, blue eyes and a kind smile. Despite his size, he was a total teddy bear.

The two men shook hands and exchanged pleasantries.

"So, how are they doing?" Castle asked.

"As well as any baby who is born ten weeks early cane be, Dr. Case said. He went on to explain about each baby and how they were doing and what the doctors were doing to help them.

The guy was good. He knew what he was talking about and was confident in it.

Castle snapped pictures and took notes on his phone, though he wasn't sure about the spelling on some of the bigger words.

"We are helping them to breathe and giving them medicine and food through these tubes and IV's," Dr. Case said pointing out the different tubes and wires hanging off the Castle babies.

Miyana's eyes were covered, so Castle couldn't see what color they were. She wasn't wearing any clothes, save for a diaper. She was laying in her incubator, a blue light shining on her. She was crying.

"She has jaundice, right?" Castle asked, making sure he wasn't confusing it with anything.

He put his hand through the hole on the side of her bed, rubbing his finger, just one finger, over her arm, trying to calm the baby down.

"Exactly. How did you know that?" Dr. Spence asked, curious how a writer knew about jaundice.

"My oldest daughter, their big sister, had Jaundice when she was little. Had to be hospitalized for a week to treat it too." He remembers sitting in the NICU with a baby Alexis, by himself, for a week straight. A new father, all alone because his daughter's mother was in LA working on some play, and couldn't be bothered to come back when her baby girl needed her most.

"Miyana will be fine soon. Jaundice is one of those things that nearly every baby that comes through here gets at some time or another. It's not very fun, but it can be fixed,' Dr. Case said smiling.

He had dealt with his fair share of new parents on their first jaunt in the NICU. He had a way of talking to them, a way to give them information and not make them more worried than humanly possible.

Castle exhaled, he was relieved. All five babies were doing well, even Finn who was the 'worst' of the five. She was the smallest weighing in at 2lbs and 6oz's. She was so tiny, but so tough. She didn't want to be left out; being the youngest it's bound to happen at some time or another.

Castle would never let her be left out. She already had him wrapped around her little finger.

He kissed his fingers and placed them on her incubator right by her head. She was still too sick to be touched right then.

All five babies were asleep, there really wasn't much for Castle to do, except watch them sleep, which he knew he would be doing a lot.

He felt the NICU, once again discarding his gown and heading for the elevators.

On the lift, he pulled out his cell phone flipped through his contacts until he found the desired number. He put the phone to his hear, running a hand through his hair and talking a minute to breathe, to decompress after a stressful couple of hours.

"Hey Paula, how fast can you organize a press conference?"


	23. Chapter 23

**So this is the third re-write of this chapter. It kind of kicked my butt a little bit. I hope you guys like it!**

**Enjoy!**

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February- 1 Day Old

The energy in the elevator was so tangible, you could almost taste it. Beckett was seated in a wheelchair, still in pain after her surgery the previous day, with castle standing behind her. His hands were on her shoulders, which was almost too much touching for Beckett to handle.

Castle didn't know whether to take it as a good thing or a bad one.

Kate reached up, took his hand and squeezed it.

A good thing.

The doors opened up on the NICU floor. Kate tried to hide the huge smile on her face, but it was hard not to smile. She was about to meet for babies. She was excited.

[] []

Castle smiled at the nurses floating around the NICU, already worming his way into their hearts. He took Kate over to the doctors handling the quints' care. They exchanged pleasantries before Dr. Spence was pulled away to help a med student do a procedure.

"Oh Castle," Kate gasped, cupping her hands around her mouth. There was something in the pit of her stomach that poked its head out when Kate saw her five babies for the first time. It was that natural maternal instinct that Kate didn't know she possessed; she needed to do something to protect her helpless children.

She went down the line, one by one and spent some time with each of her five kids. She couldn't hold any of them, not yet anyway, so touching them was the only physical connection she got.

"Kate, look," Castle said, getting her attention. He pulled off the beanie covering Austin's head, which received a bat of the babies hand as he reacted to the unexpected cold. Castle ran his hand, which was the size of his son's head, over the light, thin dusting of hair that covered the boy's noggin. It shouldn't have even counted as hair, it was more like peach fuzz than hair, but it was there.

He smiled at his wife who had a smile of her own before recovering his son's head with the blue beanie.

Kate was over by Danielle, who had started crying the minute her mom came over. She was standing next to the incubator, the wheelchair pushed aside, using the side to brace herself against.

"What did you do to her?" Castle asked, joking, coming over to his wife and daughter.

"It wasn't me! Maybe she saw your face," Kate turns over her shoulder and smiles at her husband.

He gives her a hurt look and puts his hand over his heart.

Kate giggles and touches his bicep, letting him know she was only joking and to calm down.

A nurse, in the same pink gown that every parent, family member, guest and doctor wore, came over holding the tiniest diaper Castle had ever seen.

"She needs to be changed," the nurse, Kit, said, opening the side of the incubator so she could get at the squirming preemie. "Do you want to do it?" she asked Kate.'

The new mom nodded, and took the diaper and wipes from the nurse.

She hadn't changed a baby's diaper in a long time, not since her days of babysitting the kids down the block, but luckily Castle stayed behind her and talked her through it.

Danielle squirmed and cried the whole time and Kate almost stopped changing her a few times.

"It's ok, you won't hurt her. All babies don't like to be changed, it's ingrained in their minds to hate it," Castle said, noticing the way his wife stiffened every time Danielle moved.

Soon enough Danielle had a fresh new diaper on and was whole lot happier.

"It gets easier, the first one is always hardest," Kit said, coming back over to their family to make sure everything was alright. "You want to keep going, or was one more than enough for today?"

Castle and Beckett look at each other, speaking through their eyes and facial expressions. A minute later Kate says "Sure we'll keep going. Have to practice sometime, right?"

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"Oh god, I am so tired," Kate says, sinking into the pillows on her bed later that day. The two had spent the day in the NICU doing everything they could in terms of taking care of their babies and only just got back downstairs and into Kate's hospital room.

"Maybe standing up all day wasn't such a good idea after all, huh?" Castle asked from his usual spot, in the chair by the window.

"Yea I guess not," her voice had softened from its normal volume and tone: an obvious sign she was tired and losing steam fast.

Castle stood and moved as quietly from the room as possible, giving Kate some quiet time to rest.

His phone began to ring just as the door shut. Castle answered it, putting it up to his ear and moving out of the way to answer the call.

It was the leader of the design tem Castle had hired to finish the half done nursery. He and Kate had worked on it little by little during her bed rest at home, but as soon as she went into the hospital, that project took a backseat.

They had a lengthy conversation about the final touches on the nursery. They wanted it to be finished by the time Kate got home, which, barring any complications, would be in the next two to three days.

"No, yea that sounds good. Just finish the room; I'll put the last few things together tomorrow when I come home. Yea I will. Thanks Dave. Yea, um-hmm, bye."

He ended the call and slipped his phone back into his pocket. Castle didn't even realize he had walked the full length of the hallway outside Kate's room during his call, until he had to walk all the way back.

He walked slowly, pausing for a moment at every open door, trying to decipher the story of the room's inhabitants. He formed at least seven different back stories for the room he saw, before someone aught him watching and he had to get out of there fast.

He ran to Kate's room, pausing outside the door to take a breath and straighten his shirt. He went in, not knocking, without thinking.

"Castle!" Kate screamed, trying to cover her exposed breasts as fast as possible. "Get out of here!" he backed out, the door closing in front of his face.

Why should she be embarrassed? It's not like he hasn't already seen her naked. What's the big deal?

He left the floor entirely, going to find a cup of coffee, give Kate time.

[] []

Both doctors in the NICU who were taking care of the quints made it perfectly clear that breast milk was the best thing for the babies to eat. It has all the right nutrients to help them grow and hopefully get out of intensive care and home sooner. Kate knew it was true, that why mother's breast feed their babies right? Because it's better than anything else they had the choice to eat.

So when the hospital sent a lactation nurse into Kate's room a few hours after her surgery, Kate was ready and raring to go. But after an hour of pumping, and getting nothing out of it, Kate grew frustrated and had to stop. The nurse had said that it was common in new mothers; it usually took a day or two for their milk to start flowing.

When the nurse came back the next day, they got the same results. Kate didn't mean to snap at Castle or have that moment of embarrassment. She was just frustrated and mad at herself for not being able to produce the one thing her kids needed, the one thing that occurs in nature, and yet here she was: curled up in bed, tears of anger and frustration roll down her cheeks.

She didn't understand why it wasn't coming for her. Why her body was doing these things to her, as if the universe couldn't just let her be happy for once, it had to put her through hell.

"Hey." She didn't hear him come in, or maybe she did, honestly she doesn't know. She rolls over to see his standing in the light from the hallway. Making him look faceless, like a shadow.

She wipes the tears off her face and sits up. "Hey."

He waits her out, let's her come up with the right words. He doesn't speak, but sits and takes her hand. She lets him, doesn't pull away like he thought she would.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you. I didn't mean too. I was just frustrated and embarrassed and I took it out on you and I'm sorry."

He squeezes her hand, smiles. "I know. I should have knocked; it was stupid of me not too."

"Why should you have too? You didn't know that the lactation nurse was coming again, and in the entire time I've been in the hospital, when have you ever knocked before entering my room?" she shoots him one of her famous looks, but smiles. He knows what she means; he shouldn't put the blame entirely on him. It was just a stupid mistake out of anger and frustration.

He pulls her hand up to his lips and kisses it before leaning over and planting light kisses on her cheek, the corner of her mouth and finally her lips.

"C'mon, let's go get something to eat," he takes both of her hands and pulls her to stand.

[] []

He didn't stay too long after dinner; Kate had caught him falling asleep in his, crappy, spaghetti and sent him home.

He goes with little fight, they are both worn out and in need of sleep.

The loft's living room was full of empty boxes and plastic bags from packaging and chunks of Styrofoam. Castle takes off his coat and lays it over the back of the couch as he heads up the stairs, down the hall and into the second bedroom the left. It's cattycorner from Alexis' room, and used to be a guest room.

"Oh wow! You guys did an amazing job," Castle gasps looking around the nursery. It still smells like paint, even with the windows wide open, letting in the freezing February air.

"Glad you like it," Dave says, closing the windows that were open to rid the room of the smell of new paint.

The two men shake hands and leave the room, flipping off the light as they go. Castle shows Dave to the door, and makes sure he gets onto the elevator safely before closing the front door and locking it.

Castle lets out a breath and moves into his office. He pours himself a drink because after the last few days he's had, he needs it.

The scotch burns its way down his throat, but calms his mind and makes Castle lets out a huge yawn. He finishes off the drink before moving into the bathroom.

He washes his hands before picking up his toothbrush and loading it with toothpaste. He brushes until his mouth is so full of foam that he's forced to spit. Castle turns the light and the automatic night light comes on, giving off enough light for someone to see during those middle of the night trips to the bathroom.

He lays down in bed, the covers up to his collar bone, and is out before his head hits the pillow.

[] []

He wakes at eleven the next morning, sunlight trying to break through the blinds. He luxuriates in the ability to wake up slowly, take his time.

After a shower and a giant cup of coffee, Castle returns to the hospital, parking in the visitor's lot and riding the elevator up to the lobby. He stitches elevators and gets off on the maternity floor.

The doctors and nurses wave to him as he walks by, some exchanging pleasantries with him.

Castle opens Kate's room door, knocking on the wood, as not to surprise her.

It's empty.

He checks the en suite bathroom, but she's not there either.

He's back in the hallway and stops the first nurse he sees.

"Have you seen Kate?" he asks, a little scared about his missing wife.

"I think she went up to the NICU," the nurse says. "Sorry, I just came on."

"It's alright, thank you," they part ways Castle back to the elevator bank and the nurse off to finish rounds.

The routine of the NICU was becoming so second nature to Rick Castle that he could almost do it with his eyes closed. Washing hands, putting on the pink gown and waiting for the desk clerk to buzz him in.

Dr. Case finishes writing notes in the chart he's working on, when he looks up and see Rick Castle coming in. He sees Castle looking around the room, probably for his wife and smiles when he finds her with their babies.

Case stands and approaches the writer. "She was here before I was," he confides to Rick.

"When was that?" Castle asks.

"Around ten."

Castle lets out a breath and runs a hand through his hair and walks over to Kate.

She's standing next to Liam's incubator, running a finger up and down his tiny arm and talking quietly to him about anything and everything, the duo already thick as thieves.

"Did you get any sleep?" Castle asks from behind her, his arms coming around her stomach, hitting the still sensitive scar. He feels her flinch at the touch and moves his hug up a few inches. "Sorry."

She nods, leaning into his chest, pulling one of his hands in to touch his son. She runs both of their hands over the baby's stomach, his tiny grunts ending as the touch relaxes him.

"Hey buddy," Castle says, his voice the same volume Kate's was a minute ago. "Your mom and I love you very much." He kisses the crown of her head, breathing her in, his finger now caught in Liam's tiny fist.

"Very much," Kate echoes, a smile floating to her lips.


End file.
